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22nd Sunday in Ordinary Time, Year C, 28 August 2022 Note: Homilies & Angelus / Regina Caeli of Pope Saint John Paul II, Pope Benedict XVI & Pope Francis I had been compiled for you after the Mass Readings below. Happy Reading! Liturgical Colour: Green.
Mass Readings from ETWN, USCCB, Universalis. See our compilation with Pictures in Encouragements-289. 8-) First Reading: Sirach 3:17-18, 20, 28-29, Responsorial: Psalm 68:4-7,10-11, 2nd Reading: Hebrews 12:18-19, 22-24 & Gospel: Luke 14:1, 7-14, Gospel Video, CCTNtv.
Others:
Please refer to https://twitter.com/Michael65413248 for some latest record. Take care, put on your facemask and stay healthy, because we love you! 8-) COVID-19 Protection in Singapore.
1. Criminal Investigation Department, Singapore Police Force harassed Law-abiding Citizen. Latest! https://twitter.com/Michael65413248/status/1510086218851270658 (2 April 2022) #Singapore Police Force harassing the same law abiding business owner again from 92298844, 97397514, 83487591, 96645914, 63914706, 82825465, 97378102, 90360045, 92981234! They can’t perform to contain COVID, so they bully to appear busy? Shameless? You decide! 2. See another Police case to frame against the Innocent! Please spread the News to help them who commit no crime. Many Thanks. Till this day, the harassment continues and there is no apology from the Rulers and no compensation paid for damages inflicted. 3. See the Bloggers went MISSING before / after the Singapore General Election on 10 July 2020. Please pray for their safety as we search for them actively. Many Thanks. 5. https://twitter.com/Michael65413248/status/1557400176649650176
Homilies, Angelus / Regina Caeli
1. As we return to the themes of the Apostolic Letter Dies Domini, today we have come to the last one, which presents Sunday to us as the day that reveals the meaning of time.
Each of us cannot fail to be aware, everyday, of how quickly our lives pass. And if we look at the great periods of history, how can we not ask ourselves about our future, about what awaits us, about the goal for which we strive?
The Christian answers these questions by pointing to Christ as the very meaning of history. In his divine and human mystery, he is at the origin of the world (cf. John 1:3) and is the goal of Creation (cf. Colossians 1:16). As the Redeemer, it is he in whom everything has been recapitulated (cf. Ephesians 1:10), to be saved and restored to God the Father.
In the light of this mystery, history assumes a positive meaning for Christians, despite the sometimes deadly trials and risks to which sin subjects it. Christ is stronger than sin and death! And Sunday, by making the memory of his Resurrection present at all times, is an opening of credit for the future, a comforting certainty, a prophetic reminder of the day when Christ will come in glory.
2. To help us live Christ’s mystery in time, the liturgy is divided into the various phases of the liturgical year. In addition to the fundamental moments — Christmas, Easter, Pentecost — other feasts of great importance are also solemnized by the Church as days of precept, with the obligation to participate in the Eucharist in accordance with the model of Sunday, which is rightly considered the “primordial feast”.
By deeply experiencing the riches of Sunday and those of the whole liturgical year, Christians will become ever more aware of their identity. This will also help them prepare properly for the Great Jubilee of the Year 2000. This event will certainly acquire a particular solemnity. Yet “this year and this special time will pass, as we look to other jubilees and other solemn events. As the weekly ‘solemnity’, however, Sunday will continue to shape the time of the Church’s pilgrimage, until that Sunday which will know no evening” (Dies Domini, n. 87).
3. We raise our eyes to Mary, asking her to enable us to discover the full importance of the Lord’s Day, which an author once evocatively described as the “lord of days”. May she help us perceive the continuous flow of days as a grace and a responsibility, in the certainty that God loves us: indeed “his mercy”, as Mary proclaims in the Magnificat, “is on those who fear him, from generation to generation” (Luke 1:50). Pope Saint John Paul II (Angelus, 23 August 1998)
See our compilation with Pictures in Encouragements-289. 8-)
1. Today, 29 August, Christian tradition commemorates the martyrdom of St John the Baptist; the Messiah himself says in praise of him: "none born of woman is greater" (cf. Luke 7: 28). He gave to God the supreme witness of his blood, sacrificing his life for truth and justice; indeed, his head was cut off at the orders of Herod, whom he had dared to tell that it was not lawful to take his brother's wife (cf. Mark 6: 17-29).
2. In the Encyclical Veritatis Splendor, recalling the sacrifice of John the Baptist (cf. n. 91), I observed that martyrdom is "an outstanding sign of the holiness of the Church" (n. 93). Indeed, it "represents the high point of the witness to moral truth" (ibid.).
Although relatively few are called to make this supreme sacrifice, it is nonetheless "a consistent witness which all Christians must daily be ready to make, even at the cost of suffering and grave sacrifice" (ibid.). At times, a truly heroic effort is also needed in daily life, in order not to give in to the difficulties that are an incentive to compromise and to live the Gospel "sine glossa".
3. The heroic example of John the Baptist reminds us of the martyrs for the faith who down the centuries followed courageously in his footsteps. I recall in particular the multitude of Christians in the last century who were also victims of religious hatred in various European nations. Today too, in some parts of the world, believers are still subjected to harsh trials for adhering to Christ and his Church.
May these brothers and sisters of ours feel the full solidarity of the entire Ecclesial Community! Let us entrust them to the Blessed Virgin, Queen of Martyrs, whom we call on together at this moment. Pope Saint John Paul II (Angelus, 29 August 2004)
See our compilation with Pictures in Encouragements-290. 8-)
Loreto, after Nazareth, is the ideal place to pray while meditating on the mystery on the Incarnation of the Son of God.
Therefore, at this moment, my invitation is to enter together, in heart and mind, the Shrine of the Holy House, within those walls that according to tradition came from Nazareth, the place where the Virgin said "yes" to God and conceived in her womb the eternal Incarnate Word.
Before ending our assembly, let us leave the "agora", the square, for a moment and in spirit enter the Holy House. There is a reciprocal link between the square and the house.
The square is large, open, it is the place for meeting others, for dialogue, for confrontation. The house, on the other hand, is the place for recollection and for inner silence, where the Word may be received in depth.
To bring God to the square, one first needs to have interiorized him in the house, like Mary at the Annunciation.
And vice versa, the house is open to the square. This is also suggested by the fact that the Holy House of Loreto has three walls, not four: it is an open House, open to the world, to life, even to this Agora of Italian youth.
Dear friends, it is a great privilege for Italy to have the Shrine of the Holy House in this sweet corner of the Marches. Be justly proud of this and make the most of it! Pope Benedict XVI (Angelus, 2 September 2007)
See our compilation with Pictures in Encouragements-290. 8-)
See our compilation with Pictures in Encouragements-291. 8-)
In the scene from today’s Gospel passage, Jesus, in the home of one of the chief Pharisees, observes that the guests at lunch rush to choose the first place. It is a scene that we have seen so often: seeking the best place even “with our elbows”. Observing this scene, Jesus shares two short parables, and with them two instructions: one concerning the place, and the other concerning the reward.
The first analogy is set at a wedding banquet. Jesus says: “When you are invited by any one to a marriage feast, do not sit down in a place of honor, lest a more eminent man than you be invited by him; and he who invited you both will come and say to you, ‘Give place to this man’, and then you will begin with shame to take the lowest place” (Lk 14:8-9). With this recommendation, Jesus does not intend to give rules of social behaviour, but rather a lesson on the value of humility. History teaches that pride, careerism, vanity and ostentation are the causes of many evils. And Jesus helps us to understand the necessity of choosing the last place, that is, of seeking to be small and hidden: humility. When we place ourselves before God in this dimension of humility, God exalts us, he stoops down to us so as to lift us up to himself; “For every one who exalts himself will be humbled, and he who humbles himself will be exalted” (v. 11).
Jesus’ words emphasize completely different and opposing attitudes: the attitude of those who choose their own place and the attitude of those who allow God to assign it and await a reward from Him. Let us not forget this: God pays much more than men do! He gives us a much greater place than that which men give us! The place that God gives us is close to his heart and his reward is eternal life. “You will be blessed”, Jesus says, “you will be repaid at the resurrection of the just” (v. 14).
This is what is described in the second parable, in which Jesus points out the attitude of selflessness that ought to characterize hospitality, and he says: “But when you give a feast, invite the poor, the maimed, the lame, the blind, and you will be blessed, because they cannot repay you” (vv. 13-14). This means choosing gratuitousness rather than self-seeking and calculating to obtain a reward, seeking interest and trying to increase your wealth. Indeed, the poor, the simple, those who ‘don’t count’, can never reciprocate an invitation to a meal. In this way Jesus shows his preference for the poor and the excluded, who are the privileged in the Kingdom of God, and he launches the fundamental message of the Gospel which is to serve others out of love for God. Today, Jesus gives voice to those who are voiceless, and to each one of us he addresses an urgent appeal to open our hearts and to make our own the sufferings and anxieties of the poor, the hungry, the marginalized, the refugees, those who are defeated by life, those who are rejected by society and by the arrogance of the strong. And those who are discarded make up the vast majority of the population.
At this time, I think with gratitude of the soup kitchens where many volunteers offer their services, giving food to people who are alone, in need, unemployed or homeless. These soup kitchens and other works of mercy — such as visiting the sick and the imprisoned — are a training ground for charity that spreads the culture of gratuity, as those who work in these places are motivated by God’s love and enlightened by the wisdom of the Gospel. In this way serving others becomes a testimony of love, which makes the love of Christ visible and credible.
Let us ask the Virgin Mary, who was humble throughout her whole life, to lead us every day along the way of humility, and to render us capable of free gestures of welcome and solidarity with those who are marginalized, so as to become worthy of the divine reward. Pope Francis I (Angelus, 28 August 2016)
Angelus, 1 September 2019 Extracts: The first parable is addressed to one who is invited to a feast and Jesus exhorts him not to “sit down in a place of honour, lest a more eminent man than you be invited by him; and he who invited you both will come, and say to you, ‘Please, move back, give place to this man’”. An embarrassment! And “then you will begin with shame to take the lowest place” (cf. vv. 8-9). Jesus instead teaches us to behave in the opposite way: “when you are invited, go and sit in the lowest place, so that when your host comes he may say to you, ‘Friend, go up higher’” (v. 10). Thus, we should not seek the attention and regard of others on our own initiative but, if anything, let others offer them to us. Jesus always shows us the way of humility — we must learn the way of humility! — because it is the most authentic way, which also allows one to enjoy authentic relationships. True humility, not false humility, the kind they call in Piedmont, mugna quacia. No, not that kind. True humility.
In the second parable, Jesus addresses the one who invites and, referring to the method of selecting guests, says to him: “when you give a feast, invite the poor, the maimed, the lame, the blind, and you will be blessed, because they cannot repay you” (vv. 13-14). Here too, Jesus goes completely against the tide, manifesting as always, the logic of God the Father. And he also adds the key by which to interpret this discourse of his. And what is the key? A promise: if you do this, you “will be repaid at the resurrection of the just” (v. 14). This means that those who behave in this way will receive divine compensation, far superior to human repayment: I do this favour for you expecting you to do one for me. No, this is not Christian. Humble generosity is Christian. Indeed, human repayment usually distorts relationships, making them “commercial” by bringing personal interest into a relationship that should be generous and free. Instead, Jesus encourages selfless generosity, to pave our way toward a much greater joy, the joy of partaking in the very love of God who awaits us, all of us, at the heavenly banquet.
May the Virgin Mary, “humble beyond all creatures and more exalted” (Dante, Paradiso, xxxiii, 2), help us to recognize ourselves as we are, that is, small; and to give joyfully, without repayment. Pope Francis I (Angelus, 1 September 2019)
PASTORAL VISIT OF THE HOLY FATHER FRANCIS TO L’AQUILA on 28 August 2022 Homily Extracts: Today we are celebrating the Eucharist on a special day for this city and this Church: the Celestinian Forgiveness. Here, the relics of Pope Celestine V are preserved. This man seems to have completely accomplished what we heard in the First Reading: “The greater you are, the more you must humble yourself; so you will find favour in the sight of the Lord” (Sirach 3:18). We erroneously remember Celestine V as “the who made a great refusal”, according to the expression Dante used in his Divine Comedy. But Celestine V was not a man who said “no”, but a man who said “yes”.
In fact, there exists no other way to accomplish God’s will than to assume the strength of the humble, there is no other way. Precisely because they are such, the humble appear weak and as losers in the eyes of men and women, whereas in reality, they are the true conquerors because they are the ones who confide completely in the Lord and know his will. It is, in fact, “to the humble that God reveals his secrets, and by the humble he is glorified” (cf. Sir 3:19-20). In the spirit of the world that is dominated by pride, the Word of God for today invites us to become humble and meek. Humility does not consist in belittling ourselves, but rather in that healthy realism that makes us recognize our potentials as well as our misery. Beginning with our misery, humility makes us take our gaze off ourselves in order to turn it toward God, to the One who can do everything and who even obtains for us what we would not succeed in obtaining on our own. “All things can be done for the one who believes” (Mark 9:23).
The Christian knows that his or her life is not a career after the manner of the world, but a career after the manner of Christ who said of himself that he had come to serve and not to be served (cf. Mark 10:45). Unless we understand that the revolution of the Gospel is contained in this type of freedom, we will continue to witness war, violence and injustice, which are nothing other than the external symptoms of a lack of interior freedom. Where there is no interior freedom, selfishness, individualism, personal interest, and oppression, and all these miseries, find their way in. And misery takes control. Pope Francis I (Homily, 28 August 2022)
Angelus, 28 August 2022 PASTORAL VISIT OF THE HOLY FATHER FRANCIS TO L’AQUILA
Daily Blessings to You from Emmanuel Goh & Friends
Note: This webpage has many hyperlinks to the Vatican Webpage. The above extracts were compiled for your easy reading. This Publication is aimed to encourage all of Goodwill around the World. It is not for business or profit purposes but it is our way to thank our Creator for His continuous blessings!
Compiled on 25 August 2019 Last updated: 3 September, 14:38 SGT
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