Mass Reflection: Sunday - 6th September 2026

 

EZ 33:7-9; PS 95:1-2, 6-9; ROM 13:8-10; MT 18:15-20

Today's readings remind us of the importance of our relationships. God created us to live in communion with Him and with one another. Our families, neighbors, friends, and parish community need us, and we need them as we encourage one another on the journey toward heaven.

Our First Reading from Ezekiel shows us that each of us has a responsibility for one another. God tells the prophet, "I have appointed you watchman for the house of Israel; when you hear me say anything, you shall warn them for me." Through our Baptism, we too are called to be "watchmen" for one another. We have received the gift of the Catholic faith, and we are called to share that gift with love, humility, and generosity wherever God places us.

At first, this responsibility can seem intimidating. Does God expect us to preach a sermon wherever we go? Not at all.

Instead, St. Paul gives us a simple guide in today's Second Reading: "You shall love your neighbor as yourself." Love is the guiding principle that helps us become good stewards of every relationship God has entrusted to us.

Authentic love always seeks the good of the other. Sometimes that means speaking the truth with charity when it would be easier to remain silent. At other times, love calls us to remain silent when we are tempted to speak in anger.

In today's Gospel, Jesus shows us what that love looks like, even when relationships become strained. He tells His disciples, "If your brother sins against you, go and tell him his fault between you and him alone. If he listens to you, you have won over your brother."

Those words are especially relevant today. Our first instinct can be to complain to others, vent publicly, or avoid the difficult conversation altogether. Jesus points us toward a better way. He teaches us to approach one another directly, with humility, charity, and a sincere desire for reconciliation. This is faithful stewardship of our relationships.

Near the end of the passage, Jesus reminds us of the strength found in Christian community: "Where two or three are gathered together in my name, there am I in the midst of them."

God never intended us to journey to heaven alone. May we care for the relationships He has entrusted to us and help one another grow as faithful disciples.

Mass Reading: Sunday - 6th September 2026

First reading
Ezekiel 33:7-9
If you do not speak to the wicked man, I will hold you responsible for his death

    The word of the Lord was addressed to me as follows: ‘Son of man, I have appointed you as sentry to the House of Israel. When you hear a word from my mouth, warn them in my name. If I say to a wicked man: Wicked wretch, you are to die, and you do not speak to warn the wicked man to renounce his ways, then he shall die for his sin, but I will hold you responsible for his death. If, however, you do warn a wicked man to renounce his ways and repent, and he does not repent, then he shall die for his sin, but you yourself will have saved your life.’

The word of the Lord.

________

Responsorial Psalm
Psalm 94(95):1-2,6-9

O that today you would listen to his voice! ‘Harden not your hearts.’

Come, ring out our joy to the Lord;
    hail the rock who saves us.
Let us come before him, giving thanks,
    with songs let us hail the Lord.

O that today you would listen to his voice! ‘Harden not your hearts.’

Come in; let us bow and bend low;
    let us kneel before the God who made us:
for he is our God and we
    the people who belong to his pasture,
    the flock that is led by his hand.

O that today you would listen to his voice! ‘Harden not your hearts.’

O that today you would listen to his voice!
    ‘Harden not your hearts as at Meribah,
    as on that day at Massah in the desert
when your fathers put me to the test;
    when they tried me, though they saw my work.’

O that today you would listen to his voice! ‘Harden not your hearts.’

________

Second reading
Romans 13:8-10
Your only debt should be the debt of mutual love

    Avoid getting into debt, except the debt of mutual love. If you love your fellow men you have carried out your obligations. All the commandments: You shall not commit adultery, you shall not kill, you shall not steal, you shall not covet, and so on, are summed up in this single command: You must love your neighbour as yourself. Love is the one thing that cannot hurt your neighbour; that is why it is the answer to every one of the commandments.

The word of the Lord.

________

Gospel Acclamation
Jn17:17

Alleluia, alleluia!

Your word is truth, O Lord:
consecrate us in the truth.

Alleluia!

Or:
2Co5:19

Alleluia, alleluia!

God in Christ was reconciling the world to himself,
and he has entrusted to us the news that they are reconciled.

Alleluia!

________

Gospel
Matthew 18:15-20
If your brother listens to you, you have won back your brother

    Jesus said to his disciples: ‘If your brother does something wrong, go and have it out with him alone, between your two selves. If he listens to you, you have won back your brother. If he does not listen, take one or two others along with you: the evidence of two or three witnesses is required to sustain any charge. But if he refuses to listen to these, report it to the community; and if he refuses to listen to the community, treat him like a pagan or a tax collector.

    ‘I tell you solemnly, whatever you bind on earth shall be considered bound in heaven; whatever you loose on earth shall be considered loosed in heaven.

    ‘I tell you solemnly once again, if two of you on earth agree to ask anything at all, it will be granted to you by my Father in heaven. For where two or three meet in my name, I shall be there with them.’

The Gospel of the Lord.

Mass Reading: Sunday - 07th September 2025

First reading
Wisdom 9:13-18
Who can divine the will of God?

What man indeed can know the intentions of God?

Who can divine the will of the Lord?

The reasonings of mortals are unsure
and our intentions unstable;

for a perishable body presses down the soul,
and this tent of clay weighs down the teeming mind.

It is hard enough for us to work out what is on earth,
laborious to know what lies within our reach;
who, then, can discover what is in the heavens?

As for your intention, who could have learnt it, had you not granted dom and sent your holy spirit from above?

Thus have the paths of those on earth been straightened
and men been taught what pleases you,
and saved, by Wisdom.

The word of the Lord.

________

Responsorial Psalm
Psalm 89(90):3-6,12-14,17

O Lord, you have been our refuge from one generation to the next.

You turn men back to dust
    and say: ‘Go back, sons of men.’
To your eyes a thousand years
    are like yesterday, come and gone,
    no more than a watch in the night.

O Lord, you have been our refuge from one generation to the next.

You sweep men away like a dream,
    like the grass which springs up in the morning.
In the morning it springs up and flowers:
    by evening it withers and fades.

O Lord, you have been our refuge from one generation to the next.

Make us know the shortness of our life
    that we may gain wisdom of heart.
Lord, relent! Is your anger for ever?
    Show pity to your servants.

O Lord, you have been our refuge from one generation to the next.

In the morning, fill us with your love;
    we shall exult and rejoice all our days.
Let the favour of the Lord be upon us:
    give success to the work of our hands.

O Lord, you have been our refuge from one generation to the next.

________

Second reading
Philemon 9-10,12-17
He is a slave no longer, but a dear brother in the Lord

    This is Paul writing, an old man now and, what is more, still a prisoner of Christ Jesus. I am appealing to you for a child of mine, whose father I became while wearing these chains: I mean Onesimus. I am sending him back to you, and with him – I could say – a part of my own self. I should have liked to keep him with me; he could have been a substitute for you, to help me while I am in the chains that the Good News has brought me. However, I did not want to do anything without your consent; it would have been forcing your act of kindness, which should be spontaneous. I know you have been deprived of Onesimus for a time, but it was only so that you could have him back for ever, not as a slave any more, but something much better than a slave, a dear brother; especially dear to me, but how much more to you, as a blood-brother as well as a brother in the Lord. So if all that we have in common means anything to you, welcome him as you would me.

The word of the Lord.

________

Gospel Acclamation
Jn15:15

Alleluia, alleluia!

I call you friends, says the Lord,
because I have made known to you
everything I have learnt from my Father.

Alleluia!

Or:
Ps118:135

Alleluia, alleluia!

Let your face shine on your servant;
and teach me your decrees.

Alleluia!

________

Gospel
Luke 14:25-33
Anyone who does not carry his cross and follow me cannot be my disciple

    Great crowds accompanied Jesus on his way and he turned and spoke to them. ‘If any man comes to me without hating his father, mother, wife, children, brothers, sisters, yes and his own life too, he cannot be my disciple. Anyone who does not carry his cross and come after me cannot be my disciple.

    ‘And indeed, which of you here, intending to build a tower, would not first sit down and work out the cost to see if he had enough to complete it? Otherwise, if he laid the foundation and then found himself unable to finish the work, the onlookers would all start making fun of him and saying, “Here is a man who started to build and was unable to finish.” Or again, what king marching to war against another king would not first sit down and consider whether with ten thousand men he could stand up to the other who advanced against him with twenty thousand? If not, then while the other king was still a long way off, he would send envoys to sue for peace. So in the same way, none of you can be my disciple unless he gives up all his possessions.’

The Gospel of the Lord.

 

Mass Reflection: Sunday - 07th September 2025

 

WIS 9:13-18B; PS 90:3-6,12-14, 17; PHMN 9-10, 12-17; LK 14:25-33

Today’s readings make very clear the demands that will be made of those wanting to be called disciples of Christ. We must be prepared to give our all to Him. But in the end, the life of discipleship — the stewardship way of life — is the only life that can truly satisfy.

Our First Reading, from the ancient book of Wisdom, prepares us for the challenging teaching that will follow in today’s Gospel passage. “Who can know God’s counsel or who can conceive what the Lord intends? For the deliberations of mortals are timid… the corruptible body burdens the soul and the earthen shelter weighs down the mind that has many concerns.”

Weighed down by financial woes, relationship stress, illness — all the concerns of modern life (and apparently, ancient life, too) — how can we possibly concern ourselves with anything more than these immediate needs? Our human “earthly” instincts limit our ability to think with an eternal perspective. But, a few verses later, we are told that God has sent His Holy Spirit from on high to assist us. “And thus were the paths of those on earth made straight.” Relying on the Holy Spirit, we can live indeed live for higher goals despite all the challenges of daily life.

But this way of life will not be easy, and our Lord, knowing well our human nature, must prepare us for the challenge. In the Gospel passage from Luke, Christ is very straightforward about the cost of living for the higher aims of discipleship. “If anyone comes to me without hating his father and mother, wife and children, brothers and sisters, and even his own life, he cannot be my disciple.” Our Lord is speaking here not of emotions, but rather of priorities. He must come first in all aspects of our lives. Period.

He goes on to say, “Whoever does not carry his own cross and come after me cannot be my disciple.” In other words, it’s all or nothing. Compromise is simply not possible. Christ wants us to give all of ourselves, all aspects of our individual lives, our family life, our parish, over to Him and to the pursuit of His kingdom.

To further this point, Christ shares two parables. The first is about a builder who wants to construct a tower. Christ says that before beginning, the builder must sit down and consider the cost to see if he has what is needed to complete the project. The second parable is of a king facing a potential battle. Again, Christ says he must first consider if he has sufficient troops for success before he goes off headlong into battle. Discipleship will cost us, and we must be prepared to give it our all.

And just when we think our Lord might soften His message to make it a little more palatable, He goes further! “Anyone of you who does not renounce all his possessions cannot be my disciple.” Why is our Lord being so demanding? Only because He knows us so well and loves us so much.

He knows that if we do not live with great intentionality — putting Him first before all else — we will easily be swallowed up by the earthly cares that weigh us down — our material things, our status, and our egos. He knows that these things cannot satisfy us. He knows this because He is our Maker, and He made us for more.


We are made to be His disciples, to seek after Him and His Kingdom. Embracing stewardship as a way of life allows us to count the cost and then run after Him with all our might.

Mass Reading: Sunday - 08th September 2024

First reading
Isaiah 35:4-7
The blind shall see, the deaf hear, the dumb sing for joy

Say to all faint hearts,
‘Courage! Do not be afraid.
Look, your God is coming,
vengeance is coming,
the retribution of God;
he is coming to save you.’

Then the eyes of the blind shall be opened,
the ears of the deaf unsealed,
then the lame shall leap like a deer
and the tongues of the dumb sing for joy;

for water gushes in the desert,
streams in the wasteland,
the scorched earth becomes a lake,
the parched land springs of water.

The word of the Lord.

________

Responsorial Psalm
Psalm 145(146):7-10

My soul, give praise to the Lord.

It is the Lord who keeps faith for ever,
    who is just to those who are oppressed.
It is he who gives bread to the hungry,
    the Lord, who sets prisoners free.

My soul, give praise to the Lord.

It is the Lord who gives sight to the blind,
    who raises up those who are bowed down.
It is the Lord who loves the just,
    the Lord, who protects the stranger.

My soul, give praise to the Lord.

The Lord upholds the widow and orphan
    but thwarts the path of the wicked.
The Lord will reign for ever,
    Zion’s God, from age to age.

My soul, give praise to the Lord.

________

Second reading
James 2:1-5
God chose the poor according to the world to be rich in faith

    My brothers, do not try to combine faith in Jesus Christ, our glorified Lord, with the making of distinctions between classes of people. Now suppose a man comes into your synagogue, beautifully dressed and with a gold ring on, and at the same time a poor man comes in, in shabby clothes, and you take notice of the well-dressed man, and say, ‘Come this way to the best seats’; then you tell the poor man, ‘Stand over there’ or ‘You can sit on the floor by my foot-rest.’ Can’t you see that you have used two different standards in your mind, and turned yourselves into judges, and corrupt judges at that?

    Listen, my dear brothers: it was those who are poor according to the world that God chose, to be rich in faith and to be the heirs to the kingdom which he promised to those who love him.

The word of the Lord.

________

Gospel Acclamation
1S3:9,Jn6:68

Alleluia, alleluia!

Speak, Lord, your servant is listening:
you have the message of eternal life.

Alleluia!

Or:
cf.Mt4:23

Alleluia, alleluia!

Jesus proclaimed the Good News of the kingdom
and cured all kinds of sickness among the people.

Alleluia!

________

Gospel
Mark 7:31-37
'He makes the deaf hear and the dumb speak'

Returning from the district of Tyre, Jesus went by way of Sidon towards the Sea of Galilee, right through the Decapolis region. And they brought him a deaf man who had an impediment in his speech; and they asked him to lay his hand on him. He took him aside in private, away from the crowd, put his fingers into the man’s ears and touched his tongue with spittle. Then looking up to heaven he sighed; and he said to him, ‘Ephphatha’, that is, ‘Be opened.’ And his ears were opened, and the ligament of his tongue was loosened and he spoke clearly. And Jesus ordered them to tell no one about it, but the more he insisted, the more widely they published it. Their admiration was unbounded. ‘He has done all things well,’ they said ‘he makes the deaf hear and the dumb speak.’

The Gospel of the Lord.

 

Mass Reflection: Sunday - 08th September 2024

 

IS 35:4-7A; PS 146:6-7, 8-9, 9-10; JAS 2:1-5; MK 7:31-37

“Thus says the Lord: say to those whose hearts are frightened: Be strong, fear not!”

Our readings today offer us a message of hope — God is with us and wants to heal us. May this message come ablaze in our hearts so that we might live with unwavering faith.

Our first reading and Gospel present us with profound physical healings.

In our first reading, the prophet Isaiah is speaking to a weary people who have returned to their homeland after a period of exile. Isaiah proclaims a confident message from the Lord, “Here is your God…he comes to save you…Then will the eyes of the blind be opened, the ears of the deaf be cleared.”

Likewise, our Gospel recounts the healing of a deaf man with a speech impediment. People brought him to Jesus and begged for his healing. Jesus took the man off by himself, touched his ears and his tongue, then proclaimed, “Be opened!” Immediately he was healed.

The prophecy in our first reading and the story in our Gospel overwhelm us with comfort and peace because we have a compassionate God who sees our physical needs. Yet if we reflect further on these readings, we see that God uses these moments of physical healing as opportunities to restore something much deeper — our souls.

Oftentimes we are blind and deaf to God in our lives. We miss countless opportunities to see God working in our day-to-day moments — through our loved ones, our community, or even a stranger. We miss the quiet voice of Jesus in our hearts telling us to choose Him instead of sin, respond in love instead of anger, or care for someone else in a moment instead of ourselves.

These are how we need to be spiritually healed. And the scriptures remind us that God is with us and wants to heal us.

He offers us the sacrament of confession because He recognizes the need our souls have for healing. He is eager for us to come begging for His mercy because He wants us to be with Him in eternal life.

But that is not all Jesus wants us to do. He also wants us to seek Him daily as the blind man did. If we approach Jesus each day — during our drive to work, stopping by the church for a few moments of prayer, or even finding a quiet spot in our homes — then He will take us into a moment of complete separation from the rest of the world. In that daily moment, He will work on our hearts, heal our wounds, open our ears and our eyes so that we can better know Him, love Him, and serve Him. This is done through prayer — the intimate time between Jesus and you.

This is echoed again in our second reading, as St. James reminds us to be rich in faith. This is what truly matters in life — not the status of our lives, but the state of our souls. God has promised Himself to those who love Him. And to be rich in faith and to love God well, we must commit to that daily time with just Him. He will heal us and transform us to be rich in what truly matters.

This week let us seek God to heal our souls and transform our hearts. Let us pray that our eyes and our ears might “be open” to His workings, words, and promptings in our lives.

Mass Reading: Sunday - 10th September 2023

First reading
Ezekiel 33:7-9

If you do not speak to the wicked man, I will hold you responsible for his death

    The word of the Lord was addressed to me as follows: ‘Son of man, I have appointed you as sentry to the House of Israel. When you hear a word from my mouth, warn them in my name. If I say to a wicked man: Wicked wretch, you are to die, and you do not speak to warn the wicked man to renounce his ways, then he shall die for his sin, but I will hold you responsible for his death. If, however, you do warn a wicked man to renounce his ways and repent, and he does not repent, then he shall die for his sin, but you yourself will have saved your life.’

The word of the Lord.

________

Responsorial Psalm
Psalm 94(95):1-2,6-9

O that today you would listen to his voice! ‘Harden not your hearts.’

Come, ring out our joy to the Lord;
    hail the rock who saves us.
Let us come before him, giving thanks,
    with songs let us hail the Lord.

O that today you would listen to his voice! ‘Harden not your hearts.’

Come in; let us bow and bend low;
    let us kneel before the God who made us:
for he is our God and we
    the people who belong to his pasture,
    the flock that is led by his hand.

O that today you would listen to his voice! ‘Harden not your hearts.’

O that today you would listen to his voice!
    ‘Harden not your hearts as at Meribah,
    as on that day at Massah in the desert
when your fathers put me to the test;
    when they tried me, though they saw my work.’

O that today you would listen to his voice! ‘Harden not your hearts.’

________

Second reading
Romans 13:8-10
Your only debt should be the debt of mutual love

    Avoid getting into debt, except the debt of mutual love. If you love your fellow men you have carried out your obligations. All the commandments: You shall not commit adultery, you shall not kill, you shall not steal, you shall not covet, and so on, are summed up in this single command: You must love your neighbour as yourself. Love is the one thing that cannot hurt your neighbour; that is why it is the answer to every one of the commandments.

The word of the Lord.

________

Gospel Acclamation
Jn17:17

Alleluia, alleluia!

Your word is truth, O Lord:
consecrate us in the truth.

Alleluia!

Or:
2Co5:19

Alleluia, alleluia!

God in Christ was reconciling the world to himself,
and he has entrusted to us the news that they are reconciled.

Alleluia!

________

Gospel
Matthew 18:15-20
If your brother listens to you, you have won back your brother

    Jesus said to his disciples: ‘If your brother does something wrong, go and have it out with him alone, between your two selves. If he listens to you, you have won back your brother. If he does not listen, take one or two others along with you: the evidence of two or three witnesses is required to sustain any charge. But if he refuses to listen to these, report it to the community; and if he refuses to listen to the community, treat him like a pagan or a tax collector.

    ‘I tell you solemnly, whatever you bind on earth shall be considered bound in heaven; whatever you loose on earth shall be considered loosed in heaven.

    ‘I tell you solemnly once again, if two of you on earth agree to ask anything at all, it will be granted to you by my Father in heaven. For where two or three meet in my name, I shall be there with them.’

The Gospel of the Lord.

Mass Reflection: Sunday - 10th September 2023

 EZ 33:7-9; PS 95:1-2, 6-9; ROM 13:8-10; MT 18:15-20

Today’s readings are all about relationships. Among the many lessons we have learned as a result of the global pandemic is the deep importance of the relationships and communities in our lives. Our families, our neighbors, our friends and our parish family need us and we need them — not just for survival, but to be our best selves, and to help each other on the path to heaven. 
 
Our readings today show us how we can be good stewards of these vital relationships, beginning with the first reading from the prophet Ezekiel. God says to Ezekiel, “You… I have appointed watchman for the house of Israel; when you hear me say anything, you shall warn them for me.” Because of our Baptism, we are all “watchmen” for one another. We have been given the gift of our Catholic faith and we have a responsibility to lovingly and generously share that gift. As Christian stewards, we must take this call to heart every day of the week and in every setting in which we find ourselves.
 
This can seem overwhelming at first. Are we called to keep a sermon in our back pocket at all times? Not exactly. 
 
St. Paul gives us simple instruction in our second reading from Romans to guide us in our dealings with others. He reminds us what Christ Himself taught: “You shall love your neighbor as yourself.” Love is the overarching principle that guides us to be good stewards of our relationships and communities. 
 
True love means seeking the good of the other. Sometimes, love requires us to speak up when it would be easier to remain silent — other times, love calls us to keep our mouths shut when we would prefer to “put someone in their place.” 
 
In our Gospel passage from Matthew, Jesus further refines this instruction on good stewardship of our relationships, even when they involve conflict. He says, “If your brother sins against you, go and tell him his fault between you and him alone. If he listens to you, you have won over your brother.” 
 
What timely advice for the modern-day steward. In this age of social media, it is tempting and all too easy to take to Twitter or Facebook to vent our frustrations about someone who has offended us. This is not love. But neither is allowing a brother (or sister) to sin against us without speaking up. Jesus teaches us to confront the offending person directly and discretely — with the goal of restoring the relationship if possible. This is how we steward our relationships even through rocky waters.
 
Later in this passage, Jesus speaks to us of the power and beauty of community life. “If two of you agree on earth about anything for which they are to pray, it shall be granted by my heavenly Father. For where two or three are gathered together in my name, there am I in the midst of them.” 
 
Christian stewards, God has designed us in such a way that we must help each other on the journey towards heaven. Let us take care to steward our relationships well.

Mass Reading: Sunday - 04th September 2022

First reading
Wisdom 9:13-18
Who can divine the will of God?

What man indeed can know the intentions of God?
Who can divine the will of the Lord?
The reasonings of mortals are unsure
and our intentions unstable;
for a perishable body presses down the soul,
and this tent of clay weighs down the teeming mind.
It is hard enough for us to work out what is on earth,
laborious to know what lies within our reach;
who, then, can discover what is in the heavens?
As for your intention, who could have learnt it, had you not granted Wisdom
and sent your holy spirit from above?
Thus have the paths of those on earth been straightened
and men been taught what pleases you,
and saved, by Wisdom.

The word of the Lord.

________

Responsorial Psalm
Psalm 89(90):3-6,12-14,17

O Lord, you have been our refuge from one generation to the next.

You turn men back to dust
    and say: ‘Go back, sons of men.’
To your eyes a thousand years
    are like yesterday, come and gone,
    no more than a watch in the night.

O Lord, you have been our refuge from one generation to the next.

You sweep men away like a dream,
    like the grass which springs up in the morning.
In the morning it springs up and flowers:
    by evening it withers and fades.

O Lord, you have been our refuge from one generation to the next.

Make us know the shortness of our life
    that we may gain wisdom of heart.
Lord, relent! Is your anger for ever?
    Show pity to your servants.

O Lord, you have been our refuge from one generation to the next.

In the morning, fill us with your love;
    we shall exult and rejoice all our days.
Let the favour of the Lord be upon us:
    give success to the work of our hands.

O Lord, you have been our refuge from one generation to the next.

________

Second reading
Philemon 9-10,12-17
He is a slave no longer, but a dear brother in the Lord

This is Paul writing, an old man now and, what is more, still a prisoner of Christ Jesus. I am appealing to you for a child of mine, whose father I became while wearing these chains: I mean Onesimus. I am sending him back to you, and with him – I could say – a part of my own self. I should have liked to keep him with me; he could have been a substitute for you, to help me while I am in the chains that the Good News has brought me. However, I did not want to do anything without your consent; it would have been forcing your act of kindness, which should be spontaneous. I know you have been deprived of Onesimus for a time, but it was only so that you could have him back for ever, not as a slave any more, but something much better than a slave, a dear brother; especially dear to me, but how much more to you, as a blood-brother as well as a brother in the Lord. So if all that we have in common means anything to you, welcome him as you would me.

The word of the Lord.

________

Gospel Acclamation
Jn15:15

Alleluia, alleluia!

I call you friends, says the Lord,
because I have made known to you
everything I have learnt from my Father.

Alleluia!

Or:

Ps118:135

Alleluia, alleluia!

Let your face shine on your servant;
and teach me your decrees.

Alleluia!

________

Gospel
Luke 14:25-33
Anyone who does not carry his cross and follow me cannot be my disciple

    Great crowds accompanied Jesus on his way and he turned and spoke to them. ‘If any man comes to me without hating his father, mother, wife, children, brothers, sisters, yes and his own life too, he cannot be my disciple. Anyone who does not carry his cross and come after me cannot be my disciple.

    ‘And indeed, which of you here, intending to build a tower, would not first sit down and work out the cost to see if he had enough to complete it? Otherwise, if he laid the foundation and then found himself unable to finish the work, the onlookers would all start making fun of him and saying, “Here is a man who started to build and was unable to finish.” Or again, what king marching to war against another king would not first sit down and consider whether with ten thousand men he could stand up to the other who advanced against him with twenty thousand? If not, then while the other king was still a long way off, he would send envoys to sue for peace. So in the same way, none of you can be my disciple unless he gives up all his possessions.’

The Gospel of the Lord.

 

Mass Reflection: Sunday - 04th September 2022

WIS 9: 13-18B; PS 90: 3-6,12-14, 17; PHMN 9-10, 12-17; LK 14:25-33

Today’s readings make very clear the demands that will be made of those wanting to be called disciples of Christ. We must be prepared to give our all to Him. But in the end, the life of discipleship — the stewardship way of life — is the only life that can truly satisfy.
 
Our First Reading, from the ancient book of Wisdom, prepares us for the challenging teaching that will follow in today’s Gospel passage. “Who can know God’s counsel or who can conceive what the Lord intends? For the deliberations of mortals are timid… the corruptible body burdens the soul and the earthen shelter weighs down the mind that has many concerns.”
 
Weighed down by financial woes, relationship stress, illness — all the concerns of modern life (and apparently, ancient life, too) — how can we possibly concern ourselves with anything more than these immediate needs? Our human “earthly” instincts limit our ability to think with an eternal perspective. But, a few verses later, we are told that God has sent His Holy Spirit from on high to assist us. “And thus were the paths of those on earth made straight.” Relying on the Holy Spirit, we can live indeed live for higher goals despite all the challenges of daily life.
 
But this way of life will not be easy, and our Lord, knowing well our human nature, must prepare us for the challenge. In the Gospel passage from Luke, Christ is very straightforward about the cost of living for the higher aims of discipleship. “If anyone comes to me without hating his father and mother, wife and children, brothers and sisters, and even his own life, he cannot be my disciple.” Our Lord is speaking here not of emotions, but rather of priorities. He must come first in all aspects of our lives. Period.
 
He goes on to say, “Whoever does not carry his own cross and come after me cannot be my disciple.” In other words, it’s all or nothing. Compromise is simply not possible. Christ wants us to give all of ourselves, all aspects of our individual lives, our family life, our parish, over to Him and to the pursuit of His kingdom.
 
To further this point, Christ shares two parables. The first is about a builder who wants to construct a tower. Christ says that before beginning, the builder must sit down and consider the cost to see if he has what is needed to complete the project. The second parable is of a king facing a potential battle. Again, Christ says he must first consider if he has sufficient troops for success before he goes off headlong into battle. Discipleship will cost us, and we must be prepared to give it our all.
 
And just when we think our Lord might soften His message to make it a little more palatable, He goes further! “Anyone of you who does not renounce all his possessions cannot be my disciple.” Why is our Lord being so demanding? Only because He knows us so well and loves us so much.
 
He knows that if we do not live with great intentionality — putting Him first before all else — we will easily be swallowed up by the earthly cares that weigh us down — our material things, our status, and our egos. He knows that these things cannot satisfy us. He knows this because He is our Maker, and He made us for more. 

Mass Reflection: Sunday, 05th September 2021

 

“Thus says the Lord: say to those whose hearts are frightened: Be strong, fear not!” 
 
Our readings today offer us a message of hope — God is with us and wants to heal us. May this message come ablaze in our hearts so that we might live with unwavering faith. 
 
Our first reading and Gospel present us with profound physical healings. 
 
In our first reading, the prophet Isaiah is speaking to a weary people who have returned to their homeland after a period of exile. Isaiah proclaims a confident message from the Lord, “Here is your God…he comes to save you…Then will the eyes of the blind be opened, the ears of the deaf be cleared.”
 
Likewise, our Gospel recounts the healing of a deaf man with a speech impediment. People brought him to Jesus and begged for his healing. Jesus took the man off by himself, touched his ears and his tongue, then proclaimed, “Be opened!” Immediately he was healed. 
 
The prophecy in our first reading and the story in our Gospel overwhelm us with comfort and peace because we have a compassionate God who sees our physical needs. Yet if we reflect further on these readings, we see that God uses these moments of physical healing as opportunities to restore something much deeper — our souls. 
 
Oftentimes we are blind and deaf to God in our lives. We miss countless opportunities to see God working in our day-to-day moments — through our loved ones, our community, or even a stranger. We miss the quiet voice of Jesus in our hearts telling us to choose Him instead of sin, respond in love instead of anger, or care for someone else in a moment instead of ourselves. 
 
These are how we need to be spiritually healed. And the scriptures remind us that God is with us and wants to heal us. 
 
He offers us the sacrament of confession because He recognizes the need our souls have for healing. He is eager for us to come begging for His mercy because He wants us to be with Him in eternal life. 
 
But that is not all Jesus wants us to do. He also wants us to seek Him daily as the blind man did. If we approach Jesus each day — during our drive to work, stopping by the church for a few moments of prayer, or even finding a quiet spot in our homes — then He will take us into a moment of complete separation from the rest of the world. In that daily moment, He will work on our hearts, heal our wounds, open our ears and our eyes so that we can better know Him, love Him, and serve Him. This is done through prayer — the intimate time between Jesus and you. 

This is echoed again in our second reading, as St. James reminds us to be rich in faith. This is what truly matters in life — not the status of our lives, but the state of our souls. God has promised Himself to those who love Him. And to be rich in faith and to love God well, we must commit to that daily time with just Him. He will heal us and transform us to be rich in what truly matters. 
 
This week let us seek God to heal our souls and transform our hearts. Let us pray that our eyes and our ears might “be open” to His workings, words, and promptings in our lives.

The Liturgy of the Word: Sunday, 05th September 2021

First reading
Isaiah 35:4-7
The blind shall see, the deaf hear, the dumb sing for joy

Say to all faint hearts,
‘Courage! Do not be afraid.
Look, your God is coming,
vengeance is coming,
the retribution of God;
he is coming to save you.’

Then the eyes of the blind shall be opened,
the ears of the deaf unsealed,
then the lame shall leap like a deer
and the tongues of the dumb sing for joy;

for water gushes in the desert,
streams in the wasteland,
the scorched earth becomes a lake,
the parched land springs of water.

The word of the Lord.

________

Responsorial Psalm
Psalm 145(146):7-10

My soul, give praise to the Lord.

It is the Lord who keeps faith for ever,
    who is just to those who are oppressed.
It is he who gives bread to the hungry,
    the Lord, who sets prisoners free.

My soul, give praise to the Lord.

It is the Lord who gives sight to the blind,
    who raises up those who are bowed down.
It is the Lord who loves the just,
    the Lord, who protects the stranger.

My soul, give praise to the Lord.

The Lord upholds the widow and orphan
    but thwarts the path of the wicked.
The Lord will reign for ever,
    Zion’s God, from age to age.

My soul, give praise to the Lord.

________

Second reading
James 2:1-5
God chose the poor according to the world to be rich in faith

My brothers, do not try to combine faith in Jesus Christ, our glorified Lord, with the making of distinctions between classes of people. Now suppose a man comes into your synagogue, beautifully dressed and with a gold ring on, and at the same time a poor man comes in, in shabby clothes, and you take notice of the well-dressed man, and say, ‘Come this way to the best seats’; then you tell the poor man, ‘Stand over there’ or ‘You can sit on the floor by my foot-rest.’ Can’t you see that you have used two different standards in your mind, and turned yourselves into judges, and corrupt judges at that?

    Listen, my dear brothers: it was those who are poor according to the world that God chose, to be rich in faith and to be the heirs to the kingdom which he promised to those who love him.

The word of the Lord.

________

Gospel Acclamation
1S3:9,Jn6:68

Alleluia, alleluia!

Speak, Lord, your servant is listening:
you have the message of eternal life.

Alleluia!

Or:

cf.Mt4:23

Alleluia, alleluia!

Jesus proclaimed the Good News of the kingdom
and cured all kinds of sickness among the people.

Alleluia!

________

Gospel
Mark 7:31-37
'He makes the deaf hear and the dumb speak'

Returning from the district of Tyre, Jesus went by way of Sidon towards the Sea of Galilee, right through the Decapolis region. And they brought him a deaf man who had an impediment in his speech; and they asked him to lay his hand on him. He took him aside in private, away from the crowd, put his fingers into the man’s ears and touched his tongue with spittle. Then looking up to heaven he sighed; and he said to him, ‘Ephphatha’, that is, ‘Be opened.’ And his ears were opened, and the ligament of his tongue was loosened and he spoke clearly. And Jesus ordered them to tell no one about it, but the more he insisted, the more widely they published it. Their admiration was unbounded. ‘He has done all things well,’ they said ‘he makes the deaf hear and the dumb speak.’

The Gospel of the Lord.

Mass Readings: Sunday, 06th September 2020

FIRST READING
A reading from the book of the Prophet Ezekiel    33:7-9
If you do not speak to warn the wicked man I will hold you
responsible for his death.

The word of the Lord was addressed to me as follows: ‘Son of man, I
have appointed you as sentry to the House of Israel. When you hear
a word from my mouth, warn them in my name. If I say to a wicked
man: Wicked wretch, you are to die, and you do not speak to warn
the wicked man to renounce his ways, then he shall die for his sin,
but I will hold you responsible for his death. If, however, you do warn
a wicked man to renounce his ways and repent, and he does not
repent, then he shall die for his sin, but you yourself will have saved
your life.

The Word of the Lord.

Responsorial Psalm    Ps 94: 1-2. 6-9. R: v8

Response:  O that today you would listen to his voice!
Harden not your hearts.

1. Come, ring out our joy to the Lord;
hail the. rock who saves us.
Let us come before him, giving thanks,
with songs let us hail the Lord.

2. Come in; let us bow and bend low;
let us kneel before the God who made us
for he is our God and we
the people who belong to his pasture,
the flock that is led by his hand.

3. O that today you would listen to his voice!
‘Harden not your hearts as at Meribah,
as on that day at Massah in the desert
when your fathers put me to the test;
when they tried me, though they saw my work.’

SECOND READING
A reading from the letter of St Paul to the Romans 13:8-10
Love is the answer to every one of the commandments.

Avoid getting into debt, except the debt of mutual love. If you love
your fellow men you have carried out your obligations. All the
commandments: You shall not commit adultery, you shall not kill, you
shall not steal, you shall not covet, and so on, are summed up in this
single command: You must love your neighbour as yourself. Love is
the one thing that cannot hurt your neighbour; that is why it is the
answer to every one of the commandments.

The Word of the Lord.

Gospel Acclamation   Jn 17: 17

Alleluia, alleluia!
Your word is truth, O Lord, consecrate us in the truth.
Alleluia!

Or   2 Cor 5:19

Alleluia, alleluia!
God in Christ was reconciling the world to himself,
and he has entrusted to us the news that they are reconciled
Alleluia!

GOSPEL
A reading from the Gospel according to Matthew 18:15-20
If he listens to you, you have won back your brother.

Jesus said to his disciples:
‘If your brother does something wrong, go and have it out with him
alone, is between your two selves.
If he listens to you, you have won back your brother.
If he does not listen, take one or two others along with you:
the evidence of two or three witnesses is required to sustain any
charge.
But if he refuses to listen to these,
report it to the community;
and if he refuses to listen to the community,
treat him like a pagan or a tax collector.
‘I tell you solemnly, whatever you bind on earth shall be considered
bound in heaven; whatever you loose on earth shall be considered
loosed in heaven.
‘I tell you solemnly once again, if two of you on earth agree to ask
anything at all, it will be granted to you by my Father in heaven.
For where two or three meet in my name, I shall be there with them.’

The Gospel of the Lord.