Celebrating with great joy upon the announcement that His Holiness Pope Francis will be visiting Singapore between 11-13 September 2024!
This is the second Papal trip to the Republic of Singapore, the first being that of Pope St. John Paul II on 20 November 1986, 38 years ago.
Official website:
http://popefrancis2024.sg
Liturgical Colour : White
Dear brothers and sisters in Christ, today as we listened to the words of the Sacred Scriptures, we are all reminded of the commitments that are demanded upon us all as Christians, as God’s holy and beloved people in what we have been called to do, to be the genuine and worthy bearers of God’s truth and love, His teachings and Good News. All of us are reminded to follow the Lord and to love Him wholeheartedly at all times, which is what we have been expected to do, as those whom God had called and chosen. All of us as Christians should always be ready to proclaim Him, Our Lord and Saviour in all things, to do what He has commanded us to do and to bring forth His light and salvation to the whole world through our every actions, words, interactions and deeds.
In our first reading today, we heard of the discussion between King Agrippa, the Herodian ruler of the region of Judea and that of Festus, the Roman governor who was responsible for the region of Judea and its surroundings, about that of St. Paul the Apostle, who had been incarcerated in Jerusalem ever since he arrived there and faced the Sanhedrin or the Jewish High Council. He had also been put on trial by the earlier Roman governor Felix, who received the complaints against St. Paul from the Jewish leaders, and at that time, to fulfil what the Lord had entrusted to him and the mission which he was to be sent to, the last one of his life, St. Paul chose to appeal his case to the Roman Emperor in Rome, as a privilege of him being a Roman citizen.
Thus, St. Paul was awaiting for the moment when he would be brought to Rome to appeal to the Emperor and to complete his trial there. In that meantime, as mentioned in the Acts of the Apostles, he had encounters with King Agrippa and his wife, Berenice, as well as with the Roman governor himself, and the Jewish elders and leaders tried to pursue their case against St. Paul, but St. Paul stood his ground firmly and gave very compelling arguments against those who falsely accused him of blasphemy and any other wrongdoings which he did not do. It was also mentioned that the conflicts and disagreements were seen then as internal divisions and disagreements within the Jewish community, as Christianity was then still viewed as a sect within Judaism.
St. Paul could very well have chosen an easier way and not to have to deal with all those difficult things and challenges that he had to endure as part of his ministry, enduring persecutions and prisons, one after another. But he remained steadfast in faith, entrusted everything to the Lord, believing that He would lead him to the right path, and that He would provide for His Church in the best way possible. And if he and the other disciples had to suffer, it has indeed been expected as part of their faith in the Lord, and as part of the mission which had been entrusted to them. The Lord Himself had told His disciples that they might have to suffer rejection and persecution just as He Himself had been rejected and persecuted by the world.
In our Gospel passage today, we then heard of the moment when the Lord Jesus after His Resurrection, as He was meeting with His disciples in Galilee, had a time to converse privately with St. Peter the Apostle, His chief disciple, to whom He had entrusted His Church as His Vicar. In this occasion, the Lord asked St. Peter three times, ‘Peter, do you love Me?’, to which St. Peter responded empathically with his profession of love, and as the Lord kept on repeating this same question, we heard how St. Peter was touched and felt the guilt in him as this was a clear reference and parallel to his own threefold denial of the Lord earlier on at the beginning of His Passion, when St. Peter denied knowing the Lord not just once, but three times. This was in fact the confirmation that the Lord had indeed forgiven St. Peter for his thrice denial, which St. Peter himself made with his thrice declaration of his undying love for his Lord and Master.
St. Peter according to the Gospel accounts was very ashamed and regretful over that event, and he was struck with great shame and anguish after he had committed the deed then, when he heard the cock crew after his third denial just as the Lord Himself had predicted it. However, unlike Judas Iscariot, who had betrayed the Lord to the chief priests and then shortly after took his own life out of despair and guilt, St. Peter remained faithful to the Lord and loved Him despite his own shortcomings and failures. Judas Iscariot chose to abandon hope and did not trust in the Lord’s providence and mercy, allowing Satan to lead him down the wrong path, and then he refused God’s love and mercy to the very end. On the other hand, St. Peter was truly repentant over his sins and failures, and he sought the Lord for His forgiveness and mercy.
That is why the Lord chose him, a humble fisherman, a nobody from the Lake of Galilee, a poor and brash, uneducated and illiterate man to be His chief Apostle, and to be His Vicar. God sees inside our hearts and minds in ways that we ourselves may not be able to fully realise. He sought not those whose ambitions and hubris lead them to their downfall through pride, ego and those ambitions and temptations themselves, but rather those who truly love Him wholeheartedly as St. Peter had done. St. Peter truly loved the Lord, not just in mere words as he had said it again and again to the Lord, but he also showed it through his actions and commitments, in his later many decades of hard work and contributions, efforts and leadership of the Church, as the one to whom God had entrusted His entire Church, His entire flock to. St. Peter himself was not perfect, and he was just as flawed as each and every one of us are. Yet, what matters is that, he allowed the Lord to lead and guide, to strengthen and encourage him amidst the many challenges and trials that he had to face.
Brothers and sisters in Christ, today all of us are reminded that to be a disciple of Christ, we often need to be fully and wholeheartedly committed to His cause, and there may also be many challenges, trials and obstacles in our path. But as long as we continue to commit ourselves to Him, the Lord will be always by our side and we must always have faith and trust in Him that in everything we do, we will always be strengthened, guided and empowered by His loving hands and guidance. Like St. Peter and St. Paul who have dedicated themselves fully to God’s path, and allowed themselves to be led by their faith in their actions, to endure even the worst of sufferings for our sake, let us all also allow God to lead and guide us in our path so that in everything that we say and do, we will continue to glorify Him and that we will always be ever more faithful to Him, in each and every moments of our lives. May God bless us all and be with us all, His beloved Church, now and forevermore. Amen.
Liturgical Colour : White
John 21 : 15-19
At that time, after Jesus and His disciples had finished breakfast, He said to Simon Peter, “Simon, son of John, do you love Me more than these?” He answered, “Yes, Lord, You know that I love You.” And Jesus said, “Feed My lambs.”
A second time Jesus said to him, “Simon, son of John, do you love Me?” And Peter answered, “Yes, Lord, You know that I love You.” Jesus said to him, “Look after My sheep.” And a third time He said to him, “Simon, son of John, do you love Me?”
Peter was saddened because Jesus asked him a third time, “Do you love Me?” and he said, “Lord, You know everything; You know that I love You.” Jesus then said, “Feed My sheep! Truly, I say to you, when you were young, you put on your belt and walked where you liked. But when you grow old, you will stretch out your hands, and another will put a belt around you, and lead you where you do not wish to go.”
Jesus said this to make known the kind of death by which Peter was to glorify God. And He added, “Follow Me.”
Liturgical Colour : White
Psalm 102 : 1-2, 11-12, 19-20ab
Bless the Lord, my soul; all my being, bless His holy Name! Bless the Lord, my soul, and do not forget all His kindness.
As the heavens are high above the earth, so great is His love for those fearing Him; as far as the east is from the west, so far does He remove from us our sins.
The Lord has set His throne in heaven; He rules, He has power everywhere. Praise the Lord, all you His Angels.
Liturgical Colour : White
Acts 25 : 13b-21
As King Agrippa and his sister Berenice were to stay in Caesarea several days, Festus told him about Paul’s case and said to him, “We have here a man whom Felix left as a prisoner. When I was in Jerusalem, the chief priests and the elders of the Jews accused him and asked me to sentence him.”
“I told them that it is not the custom of the Romans to hand over a man without giving him an opportunity to defend himself in front of his accusers. So they came and I took my seat without delay on the tribunal and sent for the man. When the accusers had the floor, they did not accuse him of any of the crimes that I was led to think he had committed; instead they quarrelled with him about religion and about a certain Jesus Who has died but whom Paul asserted to be alive.”
“I did not know what to do about this case, so I asked Paul if he wanted to go to Jerusalem to be tried there. But Paul appealed to be judged by the Emperor. So I ordered that he be kept in custody until I send him to Caesar.”
Liturgical Colour : White
Dear brothers and sisters in Christ, today we heard from the readings of the Sacred Scriptures reminding all of us that we must always remain united in purpose, faith and commitment in our whole lives, in all the things that we say and do in the Lord, our God and Master. We must not allow ourselves to be swayed and tempted to the wrong paths because of the many temptations present all around us in this world, or else we may find it easy to lose ourselves amidst all the distractions and temptations which may lead us astray from the path towards righteousness and salvation in God. This is what the Scriptures have been reminding us all today, that is to remain firmly rooted in our faith in the Lord.
In our first reading today, we heard from the account in the Acts of the Apostles detailing to us about the moment when St. Paul the Apostle faced the whole assembly of the Sanhedrin or the Jewish High Council in Jerusalem, who had been making lots of complaints and pressured the Roman authorities about the works and activities which St. Paul had done in teaching and proclaiming the Risen Lord Jesus and all of His truth to the many people, both to the Jews and the Gentiles or non-Jewish people alike. This was one of the several things which made St. Paul to be hated by many among the Sanhedrin, who worked hard to prevent further spread of the teachings of the Lord, with little success or progress. Instead, the Church kept on growing faster and more quickly even when they were persecuted.
At that time, the Sanhedrin was also composed of two main, very influential groups within the Jewish community, namely the Sadducees and the Pharisees, who dominated the political and religious landscape of the people of God at the time. The former, the Sadducees were those who were composed on the richer and more influential elites, the caste of the high priests which were selected from among them, the nobles and aristocrats within the Jewish community, as well as the rich and powerful merchants. Their great influence and power, coming from their control over the Temple and the commerce in the region made their position to be very powerful, and they clashed with St. Paul and the teachings of Christ over the belief in the Resurrection, in the other spiritual matters and the afterlife, which the Sadducees tend not to believe in, as they were people who were very much attached to the world, and they did not believe in the life beyond this world, a world where they thrived and excelled because of their power, wealth and influence.
They saw the Lord Jesus as a great threat to their status, power and influence, and the works which the Apostles including that of St. Paul had done in his many missionary journeys and works, all those things were seen by the Sadducees as threats to them, and therefore, they wanted to stop whatever that St. Paul had done, just as they had attempted to stop the Lord by persecuting, arresting and crucifying Him. Obviously none of them were successful, and the Church kept on growing rapidly, as more and more people came to believe in the Lord, listening to the words of the missionaries of the Lord, and being inspired by their great and loving examples, through which God’s love has been made manifest and real to them all. The Lord was also with them, with His Church and His disciples, and that was why they were all very successful despite the challenges facing them.
On the other hand, the Pharisees represent the religious and intellectual elite, all the experts on the Law and the Scriptures, the ones who were very concerned about the preservation of the Law and the Jewish ways of life, unlike the Sadducees who were more influenced by the Hellenic or Greek culture. The Pharisees also believed in a more egalitarian view of the participation of the people in worship, and not one that is dominated by the priestly caste, which quite a number among the Sadducees belonged to. They were in opposition to the Lord and His teachings, His ways and workings, and also those done by His Apostles and other disciples because of the disagreements in the manner how the Law should be observed, practiced and enforced. This had also led to bitter experiences and disagreements as recorded throughout the Gospels and the New Testament, like that with the Sadducees.
But we heard how the so-called united disagreement and plotting against the disciples of the Lord like St. Paul quickly disintegrated the moment St. Paul, ever so wise and astute, guided by the Holy Spirit, uttered before the whole Sanhedrin that he believed in the Resurrection and believed like how a Pharisee was, just as he himself was a Pharisee in his youth. We heard how the whole assembly ended up tearing apart and being divided, focusing on their own strife and disagreements with each other. Essentially this showed how God was not with the efforts and works of the Pharisees and the Sadducees, in trying to destroy and crush the early Christian Church and the faith in the Lord Jesus Christ. Those who did not have the Lord’s guidance and help, would see their efforts flounder and fail against those whom God had guided and strengthened, as what happened proved this point really well.
In our Gospel passage today, we heard from the Gospel of St. John in which the continuation of the Lord’s prayers for His disciples and followers have been told to us. The Lord prayed for guidance, strength, wisdom and empowerment for all those who have answered and heeded His call, and that they all may remain united, one and strong together as a community of believers, the Church, the Body of Christ, amidst all the challenges and persecutions that they would be facing throughout all the time. The Lord prayed that they all may be One just as He and the Father are One, to be united in love and purpose with Him, and not be divided like those Pharisees and Sadducees in the Sanhedrin. All these showed just how much He truly cared for His Church and for all of His disciples and followers in the Church. He has always been with us throughout the whole entire journey, guiding and helping us, providing us with whatever we need in our path.
The Lord continued to help and guide His Church, and despite the many sufferings that His servants endured, including that of St. Paul himself, they all gladly did them and committed themselves because of their faith and trust in Him, and they knew that God was with them, by their side, protecting and providing for them at all times. They gave their all to serve the Lord and to do His will, entrusting their lives and missions to Him. That was how the Church kept on growing in strength, despite all the challenges and hardships that they were facing throughout all the time. This is why we are all reminded that we too should always continue to carry out the Lord’s works and all the things which God had entrusted to us to do in whatever circumstances and calling that He has presented to us.
Brothers and sisters in Christ, let us all therefore renew our commitment to serve the Lord ever more faithfully with every moments we have in our lives. Let us all continue to do our best to live our lives worthily as Christians in all of our actions, words and deeds, so that by our lives, by our faithful and inspirational examples throughout life, like that of St. Paul and the other Apostles and disciples of the Lord, we will continue to inspire and help others all around us to come ever closer to God, and to remain united to Him and with Him, and not be divided because of our worldly desires and ambitions. May God be with His Church, and bless all of us in our every good efforts, works and endeavours. Amen.
Liturgical Colour : White
John 17 : 20-26
At that time, Jesus prayed to God His Father, “I pray not only for these, but also for those who through their word will believe in Me. May they all be one, as You Father are in Me and I am in You. May they be one in Us, so that the world may believe that You have sent Me.”
“I have given them the glory You have given Me, that they may be one as We are One : I in them and You in Me. Thus they shall reach perfection in unity; and the world shall know that You have sent Me, and that I have loved them, just as You loved Me.”
“Father, since You have given them to Me, I want them to be with Me where I am, and see the glory You gave Me, for You loved Me before the foundation of the world. Righteous Father, the world has not known You, but I have known You, and these have known that You have sent Me.”
“As I revealed Your Name to them, so will I continue to reveal it, so that the love with which You loved Me may be in them, and also may be in them.”
Liturgical Colour : White
Psalm 15 : 1-2a and 5, 7-8, 9-10, 11
Keep me safe, o God, for in You I take refuge. I say to the Lord, “O Lord, my inheritance and my cup, my chosen portion – hold secure my lot.”
I bless the Lord Who counsels me; even at night my inmost self instructs me. I keep the Lord always before me; for with Him at my right hand, I will never be shaken.
My heart, therefore, exults, my soul rejoices; my body too will rest assured. For You will not abandon my soul to the grave, nor will You suffer Your Holy One to see decay in the land of the dead.
You will show me the path of life, in Your presence the fullness of joy, at Your right hand happiness forever.
Liturgical Colour : White
Acts 22 : 30 and Acts 23 : 6-11
The next day the commander wanted to know for certain the charges the Jews were making against Paul. So he released him from prison and called together the High Priest and the whole Council; and they brought Paul down and made him stand before them.
Paul knew that part of the Council were Sadducees and others Pharisees; so he spoke out in the Council, “Brothers, I am a Pharisee, son of a Pharisee. It is for the hope of the resurrection of the dead that I am on trial here.”
At these words, an argument broke out between the Pharisees and the Sadducees and the whole assembly was divided. For the Sadducees claim that there is neither resurrection, nor Angels nor spirits, while the Pharisees acknowledge all these things.
Then the shouting grew louder, and some teachers of the Law of the Pharisee party protested, “We find nothing wrong with this man. Maybe a spirit or an Angel has spoken to him.” With this the argument became so violent that the commander feared that Paul would be torn to pieces by them. He therefore ordered the soldiers to go down and rescue him from their midst and take him back to the fortress.
That night the Lord stood by Paul and said, “Courage! As you have borne witness to Me here in Jerusalem, so must you do in Rome.”
Liturgical Colour : White
Dear brothers and sisters in Christ, today as we all listened to the words of the Sacred Scriptures, we are all reminded that we must always live our lives well and worthily as God’s holy and chosen people, as Christians, those whom God had blessed and embraced to be His own adopted children. This is because all of us are ourselves expected to be good and worthy role models for everyone around us, through our exemplary lives, actions and deeds. We must be always genuine in our every actions, words and deeds, living our whole existence to glorify the Lord and to proclaim His truth and love at all times. We must strive to be full of God’s love and truth, to abandon all sorts of wickedness and evils in our hearts and minds, so that we may truly serve Him wholeheartedly as His disciples and followers in our world today.
In our first reading today, we heard from the Acts of the Apostles about the moment when St. Paul the Apostle was saying his farewell to the Church elders and the other members of the faithful in the city of Ephesus in Asia Minor, in what is today part of Turkey. At that time, St. Paul was on his way to Jerusalem, as he was about to embark on his last missionary journey. The Lord had called upon St. Paul to follow Him and to do His will, as He was sending him to go to Rome, the then capital of the mighty Roman Empire that ruled over much of the Mediterranean region including the whole area of the Holy Land. St. Paul the Apostle definitely had the choice of not continuing with his mission or take refuge in one of the more stable Christian communities in the region, where friendly local Christian population might have made the rest of his mission and works relatively comfortable.
Yet, he chose to obey the Lord, follow Him and strengthen those elders and leaders of the faithful with his own example, obedience and commitment to God. Those elders had been entrusted with the leadership and guardianship over the people of God, and it was their good and worthy leadership which could lead to a great difference between the salvation or damnation of many of the souls of the people. St. Paul told those elders to remain firmly rooted and connected to God, to shepherd the flock of the Lord’s faithful worthily and according to what He had asked them all to do, and not to give in to the temptations of worldly glory and ambitions, or any sorts of attachment to our ego, desires and the attachment to the pleasures of this world.
St. Paul also warned the elders of how some might arise and lead the faithful into disarray and confusion as they did not work for the Lord but for the evil one and for their own selfish desires and ambitions. This warning would indeed come true and was truly prophetic given just how quickly after the Church had been established, even during the time of great persecutions, there quickly sprung many false teachers and leaders who did not profess the same faith and teachings as those that the Apostles had preserved in the Church as the deposit of the faith. Those false leaders and guides caused a lot of confusion and trouble in the Church, misleading the people of God and bringing about divisions that break the unity of the Body of Christ in schisms and heresies.
This reminder by St. Paul to the faithful and their leaders before he departed for his final mission still rings true even to this day. It is an important reminder and not just only to our Christian leaders and community figures but in fact also to each and every one of us as disciples and followers of Christ. This means that all of us must always strive to live our lives wholly committed and focused on the Lord, and we should always be ever vigilant not to allow ourselves to be tempted and swayed into the wrong and wicked paths because we allowed the evil one and the temptations of power, glory, ambition and desire present all around us to mislead us down the path of wickedness away from the Lord, His grace and salvation. Each and every one of us by our lives are also called and expected to show genuine and worthy Christian living and way of life, and not just those of our leaders only.
In our Gospel passage today, we heard the continuation of the Lord Jesus’ prayer to His heavenly Father for His disciples and followers, which He made shortly before He were to begin His Passion, His suffering and death. He asked His Father to bless, guide and protect those whom He had called and chosen from the world so that they may be strengthened and empowered, that they may remain united and strong amidst all the challenges and trials, all the temptations, pressures and coercions which might exist all around them. He asked His Father to consecrate all of the disciples in the truth, to guide and help them with the wisdom and the strength, the knowledge and understanding needed for them to fully appreciate their Christian faith and truth, which He would bestow upon them through the Holy Spirit.
Brothers and sisters in Christ, as we reflect upon these words from the Sacred Scriptures, let us all continue to strive to keep the focus of our lives and existence in the Lord, to put Him at the very heart and the forefront of our daily living and actions, in all of the words and deeds we commit, and in every interactions we made so that by our exemplary living and our good and worthy actions, words and deeds, we will be good and shining role models of our Christian life and faith for everyone around us. Each and every one of us must always bear witness to the Lord and to His truth, teachings and love, or else, we may in fact even scandalise Him and His Holy Name if in case our actions, words and deeds are contrary to what we believe in and what the Lord Himself had taught us. Then in that case, we will be held fully accountable for our actions, just as those heretics and false leaders likely had faced their just consequences from God.
Brothers and sisters in Christ, let us all henceforth renew our commitment to live our lives ever more faithfully to the Lord, to listen to Him and to obey His will at all times, and to become ever closer and more connected to Him through our prayerful life and through our greater love, commitment and devotion to Him. Let us all continue to glorify Him by our exemplary lives and be the good and worthy role models and inspirations for one another, both for our fellow Christians and also for all those others who have not yet known the Lord and His salvation, His truth and love, that through us, they may come to know Him and believe in Him as well. May the Lord bless us all in our every good efforts and endeavours, now and forevermore. Amen.
Liturgical Colour : White
John 17 : 11b-19
At that time, Jesus prayed to God His Father, “Holy Father, keep those You have given Me in Your Name, so that they may be one, as we also are. When I was with them, I kept them safe in Your Name; and not one was lost, except the one who was already lost, and in this, the Scripture was fulfilled. And now I come to You; in the world I speak these things, so that those whom You gave Me, might have joy – all My joy within themselves.”
“I have given them Your word; and the world has hated them, because they are not of the world, just as I am not of the world, I do not ask You to remove them from the world, but to keep them from the evil one. They are not of the world, just as I am not of the world. Consecrate them in the truth. Your word is truth.”
“I have sent them into the world as You sent Me into the world; and for their sake, I go to the sacrifice by which I am consecrated, so that they too may be consecrated in truth.”
petercanisiusmichaeldavidkang 