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Friday, 8 May 2026 : 5th Week of Easter (Homily and Scripture Reflections)

Liturgical Colour : White

Dear brothers and sisters in Christ, today as we listened to the words of the Scriptures, each and every one of us are called to follow wholeheartedly the commandments of the Lord, to take it to heart and to believe in God most sincerely in all things. We should not forget this call and duty that each and every one of us as Christians have in living our daily lives with commitment and devotion to God. All of us have the calling and the mission entrusted to us to proclaim the truth and Good News of God to all the people all around us. We should do whatever the Lord has told us to do, and live our lives the way that He has taught us, so that by our examples and way of life, we may inspire others all around us to become more committed to the Lord, and to believe in Him as well.

In our first reading today, we heard from the Acts of the Apostles, of the conclusion of the First Council of Jerusalem, the very first Council of the Church assembled to discuss and discern the decision regarding how the Christian faithful, the people of God ought to carry out their lives, as there was then the controversy and division among the Christian faithful whether the Christian faithful ought to follow the full range of the extensive and often oppressive Jewish laws and customs espoused and championed by those who belonged to the group of the Pharisees and teachers of the Law, and who embraced the Lord as their Saviour. To those people, the faithful had to embrace the fullness of the Jewish customs and laws, with all of their strict regulations and practices, in order for one to be saved and worthy of God.

However, the Apostles and the elders of the Church decided, after a period of gathering and discernment, guided by the Holy Spirit, that what is important is obeying the Law of God in its true spirit and understanding, and focusing on the key aspects of the Law of God just as the Lord Jesus Himself has revealed it, and not requiring the faithful people of God to subject themselves to the numerous tenets and often difficult to enforce rules and laws, which had in fact made it difficult for many of God’s people to come to Him, as those laws hindered them and prevented them from coming closer to God. Not only that, but as the Pharisees and the teachers of the Law also often used those same rules and laws to discriminate against those whom they deemed to be less worthy and condemned as sinners, it became stumbling block for the Pharisees and the teachers of the Law themselves, who became enamoured with worldly glory, pride and ambition, and were blinded by their fanatical ideals and pursuits of their agenda.

They spent more time worrying about how to satisfy the many different aspects and tenets of the various rites and practices rather than truly loving and honouring the Lord their God through the faithful and proper appreciation, understanding and application of those laws and commandments. They often spent so much time focusing on the minute details that they had made an idol out of their way of observing and practicing the Law, zealously and even fanatically guarding their way of observing and practicing the Law, and not willing to listen to others who told them otherwise, even the Lord Himself Who had rebuked them and criticised them for their pettiness and their excessive emphasis on the ‘letter’ of the Law while forgetting the ‘spirit’ of the Law. The Lord reminded all of us, just as He had said to His disciples in our Gospel passage today, that each and every one of us should truly commit ourselves to His commandments of Love, that is to love God our most loving Father and Creator above all else, and then to love one another in the same way.

Unless we have the right focus and motivation, it will likely be easy for us to be distracted and pulled down the wrong path, as like the Pharisees and the teachers of the Law themselves have shown us, that we may be externally pious, holy and devout, and yet inside us, within our hearts and minds, it is possible for us not to have space for the Lord at all. Therefore in that case and regard, our faith is no more than an empty and dead faith, one that will not benefit us in our path towards the eternal life in God and in His salvation. Each and every one of us are called to be truly faithful to the Lord, to be filled with generous love like that which our Lord Himself has shown us at every moments. All of us are called to do what He has taught us, to be compassionate and kind towards our fellow brothers and sisters, and to resist the temptations of evil, of pride, greed and worldly attachments.

Brothers and sisters in Christ, we are all therefore reminded through what we have received in our Scripture passages today, the call to be truly genuine in our faith in God, that is to be truly filled and steeped in God’s Love above all else, in first loving Him most sincerely and generously in the manner that He has loved us first, and then in showing the same love towards everyone around us, especially all those whom we love the most, who are most precious and dearest to us, and whom God had placed in our lives to care for, while also showing love and care towards those whom we meet and encounter in our paths, who have no one to love and care for them, showing genuine love and compassion just as the Lord Himself has first shown and taught to us how to love like He has loved us.

This is why we are all reminded to show that in how we live our lives, in genuinely caring for others around us instead of behaving in a manner that is elitist and exclusivist like those Pharisees and the early Jewish Christians had behaved, in thinking that they are better and more superior in all things. We should remember that every one of us are beloved by the Lord, and none of us are more or less deserving of His love. And certainly, we should never be prejudiced, biased or selective in our love, choosing only to love or care for those who we think we can benefit from, but causing hurt and harm, or be apathetic against those whom we may disagree with. Worse still, we may even inadvertently cause hurt to those who love and care for us too, if we allow our ego and pride, our ambitions and desires to get the better of us.

May the Lord, our ever loving and compassionate God continue to be with us always, to be with us throughout all the challenges and hardships which we may face and encounter in life, strengthening us at all times with His love and kindness, with His strength and encouragement so that we may always be genuine and true Christians at all times, in each and every one of our actions, way of life and in our every commitments to God and to one another. Let us always be the good role models and inspirations for each other, strengthening one another in our journey of life and to persevere together towards God and His salvation, now and always, with God by our side. Amen.

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Friday, 8 May 2026 : 5th Week of Easter (Gospel Reading)

Liturgical Colour : White

John 15 : 12-17

At that time, Jesus said to His disciples, “This is My commandment : Love one another as I have loved you! There is no greater love than this, to give one’s life for one’s friends; and you are My friends, if you do what I command you.”

“I shall not call You servants any more, because servants do not know what their master is about. Instead I have called you friends, since I have made known to you everything I learnt from My Father.”

“You did not choose Me; it was I Who chose you and sent you to go and bear fruit, fruit that will last. And everything you ask the Father in My Name, He will give you. This is My command, that you love one another.”

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Friday, 8 May 2026 : 5th Week of Easter (Psalm)

Liturgical Colour : White

Psalm 56 : 8-9, 10-12

My heart is steadfast, o God, my heart is steadfast. I will sing and make music. Awake, my soul, awake, o harp and lyre! I will wake the dawn.

I will give thanks to You, o Lord, among the peoples; I will sing praise to You among the nations. For Your love reaches to the heavens, and Your faithfulness, to the clouds.

Be exalted, o God, above the heavens! Let Your Glory be over all the earth!

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Friday, 8 May 2026 : 5th Week of Easter (First Reading)

Liturgical Colour : White

Acts 15 : 22-31

Then the Apostles and elders together with the whole Church decided to choose representatives from among them to send to Antioch with Paul and Barnabas. These were Judas, known as Barsabbas, and Silas, both leading men among the brothers. They took with them the following letter :

“Greetings from the Apostles and elders, your brothers, to the believers of non-Jewish birth in Antioch, Syria and Cilicia. We have heard that some persons from among us have worried you with their discussions and troubled your peace of mind. They were not appointed by us.”

“But now, it has seemed right to us in an assembly, to choose representatives and to send them to you, along with our beloved Barnabas and Paul, who have dedicated their lives to the service of our Lord Jesus Christ. We send you then Judas and Silas who themselves will give you these instructions by word of mouth.”

“We, with the Holy Spirit, have decided not to put any other burden on you except what is necessary : You are to abstain from blood from the meat of strangled animals and from prohibited marriages. If you keep yourselves from these, you will do well. Farewell.”

After saying goodbye, the messengers went to Antioch, where they assembled the community and handed them the letter. When they read the news, all were delighted with the encouragement it gave them.

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Thursday, 7 May 2026 : 5th Week of Easter (Homily and Scripture Reflections)

Liturgical Colour : White

Dear brothers and sisters in Christ, today we heard the reminders from the Lord for all of us to follow His Law and commandments in all things, to be faithful at all times and to live our lives in accordance with what He has taught and revealed to us. But at the same time, we must also remind ourselves not to be fixated at the routines and the practices of faith that we carry out, or else we may end up losing sight on what is truly important in our lives and our faith. We are all reminded to turn towards the Lord once again, refocusing our attention towards Him and not allowing ourselves to be distracted either by the vices and temptations often present around us, and also by growing ever deeper in our understanding about our Christian faith, by knowing the tenets and precepts of our faith well but without exaggerations and overemphasis on the externals without an internalised understanding of the faith.

In our first reading today, taken from the Acts of the Apostles, all of us heard about the continuation of the events highlighted these past few days of the historic First Council of Jerusalem in which the issue regarding whether the Christian faithful had to follow and obey the extensive and in fact excessive ordinances and the rules of the Jewish laws and customs was resolved by the meeting of the Church leaders and elders. This issue had bitterly divided the early Christian community, with the side of the Jewish converts particularly those who belonged to the group of the Pharisees and the teachers of the Law being very adamant in their demands and viewpoint that unless the faithful obeyed the entirety of the Jewish laws and customs, then they could not be saved. Those who belonged to those groups insisted that all the Christian faithful must obey fully the commandments of the Lord as practiced and enforced by them.

However, we must understand that back then, it was very difficult for any of the non-Jewish people or the Gentiles to follow the whole extent of the strict law as practiced and enforced by the Pharisees because some of those laws and customs were abhorrent and alien, repulsive and foreign to those people. With regards in particular to the practice of circumcision for example, it was a practice that was deemed abhorrent and disgusting by the Greeks and the Romans. Hence, if the Church were to require all the faithful to be circumcised as per required by the Jewish laws and customs, then it would have been very difficult for the Gentiles, many of whom found Jewish customs and cultural practices incompatible, to become Christians and to be the followers of the Lord. The strict and outdated dietary restrictions of the Law was another of this obstacle and hurdle which prevented many to come closer towards the Lord.

That is why, guided by the wisdom of the Lord through the Holy Spirit and through the prayers of the Apostles, we heard how St. Peter led the whole assembly of the faithful in the prayerful and careful discussion, discernment and the decision about the path that the Church ought to take going forward then, in the manner of how the faithful ought to be faithful to God. St. Peter related his examples ministering to both the Jewish and Gentile converts to the faith, and told them how everyone were called to follow the Lord, to follow what He Himself had said and taught to them, and to do what the Lord has called them to do. The Church should not make it difficult for all those who seek to be disciples and followers of the Lord, but should instead be most supportive in how they reach out to the people of God, to all those who are marginalised and forgotten, as the source of salvation for many out there, the lost sheep of the Lord’s one flock.

Essentially, all of us are reminded through these Scripture passages today of the need for us all to rediscover our faith in the Lord and to centre our focus and attention on Him, instead of being distracted by the many temptations and false paths, distortions and many other fallacies present all around us. We should not be like those Pharisees and the teachers of the Law who spent so much of their time focusing on the nitty-gritty and the specific tenets, rules and regulations of the Law and commandments of God, and ending up forgetting why the Law and commandments were there in the first place. They were meant to help lead and guide the people who have been lost to the Lord so that they might find the path back towards the Lord and towards His saving grace. Unfortunately, that Law and commandments then had been misused to be tools of power and self-justification, as well as self-glorification and pride.

As we heard in our Gospel passage today, we are reminded by the Lord Himself to return to the very roots and origins of the commandments of God, which the Lord Jesus summarised very well into two main categories, that is the love for God, the love and devotion that we ought to show Him at all times, greater than anything else, and then also the love for our fellow brothers and sisters, particularly for all those who are in need of help. We should not think that we are better and more worthy than others simply because we observe more of the Law and the commandments of God, or because we are more stringent and particular in how we carry out living our faith life. Instead, we should remind ourselves that being Christians first and foremost is a call for us all to be loving just as our Lord, our God and Father is loving and kind towards us. Our love ought to be truly genuine and unconditional just as God’s love for us has been shown to us in such a manner too.

That is how all of us can be better and more committed Christians, not by doing things that we think make ourselves holier or better, or worse still by putting others down or by thinking that by our actions and merits, we can gain glory or status for ourselves. We should instead follow the examples of the Lord Himself, Who went to the most marginalised and all those who were most prejudiced against in the community, reaching out to them with love and proclaiming to them all the words of God’s salvation and reassuring them of God’s love and grace. All of us as Christians should do well therefore to love our fellow brothers and sisters as much as we love ourselves, and love the Lord our God first and foremost above all else, above all other things in life. We should renew our commitment to Him and be good examples and role models to each other in how we live our lives as Christians.

May Christ our Risen Lord continue to help and guide us in our journey of faith through life, and may He empower us all to live ever more worthily and courageously in His path. May the truth and the love of God guide us always in our path, that we will always draw ever closer to Him, with each and every passing moments. Let our lives and examples be good inspiration and motivation for many around us who have witnessed us and our efforts, who have been working with us and interacting with us, seeing God’s truth and love manifested in each and every one of our actions, words and deeds, consistently, at all times. Amen.

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Thursday, 7 May 2026 : 5th Week of Easter (Gospel Reading)

Liturgical Colour : White

John 15 : 9-11

At that time, Jesus said to His disciples, “As the Father has loved Me, so I have loved you. Remain in My love! You will remain in My love if you keep My commandments, just as I have kept My Father’s commandments and remain in His love.

I have told you all this, that My own joy may be in you, and your joy may be complete.”

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Thursday, 7 May 2026 : 5th Week of Easter (Psalm)

Liturgical Colour : White

Psalm 95 : 1-2a, 2b-3, 10

Sing to the Lord a new song, sing to the Lord, all the earth! Sing to the Lord, bless His Name.

Proclaim His salvation day after day. Recall His glory among the nations, tell all the peoples His wonderful deeds.

Say among the nations, “The Lord reigns!” He will judge the peoples with justice.

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Thursday, 7 May 2026 : 5th Week of Easter (First Reading)

Liturgical Colour : White

Acts 15 : 7-21

As the discussions became heated, Peter stood up and said to them, “Brothers, you know that from the beginning God chose me among you so that non-Jews could hear the Good News from me and believe. God, Who can read hearts, put Himself on their side by giving the Holy Spirit to them just as He did to us. He made no distinction between us and them and cleansed their hearts through faith.”

“So why do you want to put God to the test? Why do you lay on the disciples a burden that neither our ancestors nor we ourselves were able to carry? We believe, indeed, that we are saved through the grace of the Lord Jesus, just as they are.”

The whole assembly kept silent as they listened to Paul and Barnabas tell of all the miraculous signs and wonders that God had done through them among the non-Jews. After they had finished, James spoke up, “Listen to me, brothers. Symeon has just explained how God first showed His care by taking a people for Himself from non-Jewish nations.”

“And the words of the prophets agree with this, for Scripture says, ‘After this I will return and rebuild the booth of David which has fallen; I will rebuild its ruins and set it up again. Then the rest of humanity will look for the Lord, and all the nations will be consecrated to My Name. So says the Lord, Who does today what He decided from the beginning.'”

“Because of this, I think that we should not make difficulties for those non-Jews who are turning to God. Let us just tell them not to eat food that is unclean from having been offered to idols; to keep themselves from prohibited marriages; and not to eat the flesh of animals that have been strangled, or any blood. For from the earliest times Moses has been taught in every place, and every Sabbath his laws are recalled.”

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Wednesday, 6 May 2026 : 5th Week of Easter (Homily and Scripture Reflections)

Liturgical Colour : White

Dear brothers and sisters in Christ, today as we listened to the words of the Scriptures, each and every one of us are reminded that as Christians, all of us should be truly connected and linked to the Lord, attuned and in tandem with His ways and truth at all times. Unless we keep ourselves connected to the Lord and follow Him wholeheartedly, we may find it difficult to remain truly faithful to Him, and we may easily end up falling away from the path that the Lord and causing us to fall into eternal damnation if we are not careful and vigilant in how we live our lives. That is why we should heed to messages carried in our Scripture passages today so that we may truly know what the Lord has called us to, to a life and existence that is truly blessed and harmonious with His truth and love, to obey Him and to do as the Law and the commandments He had told us to do, with genuine understanding and appreciation of what we believe in.

In our first reading today, we heard from the Acts of the Apostles of the beginning of the narrative of the moment of time when the Church in its early and very rapidly growing days, began to be pulled into two opposite extremes, as we ourselves heard from the account of the Acts of the Apostles. Back then, the Church grew rapidly with the conversion of many of the Jewish people both in Judea and Galilee as well as in the diaspora, and not few of them came from among the Pharisees and the teachers of the Law. Meanwhile, the Apostles and the missionaries of the Lord had also managed to get great inroads into the Gentile communities throughout the Mediterranean, as many among the Greeks and other local populace, as well as the Romans and many others began to heed the call of the Lord and embraced Christ as their Lord and Saviour.

The Pharisees and the teachers in particular, as mentioned, carried on their past baggage of beliefs and prejudices, as they began to argue and insist that the whole Church and all of the Lord’s believers should follow the full rigour of the Jewish laws and customs, as how the Pharisees themselves had observed and enforced. As we all ought to remember from the Gospels, the Lord Jesus Himself had often rebuked and criticised many of the Pharisees and the teachers of the Law for their overly strict interpretation and observation of the Law of God, which happened because of the accumulation of excesses and changes throughout the many centuries since the first time revelation of the Law through Moses during the time of the Exodus from Egypt. The Law of God had been passed down through the generations, and the interpretations of the Law had been changing ever since, with the Law by the time of the Lord Jesus having become excessive and difficult to observe by the people of God.

Not only that, but one of the main criticisms that the Lord laid on the Pharisees and the teachers of the Law are the fact of their hypocrisy. This means that while they enforced the very strict interpretation of the Law and forced others to obey and to follow their way of observing the Law of God, but they themselves did not truly obey the Law the way that they themselves had prescribed. Then, in addition, their preoccupation and obsession with the extensive details of the Law and all the rituals and the complicated nature of the laws, rules and regulations had distracted and prevented them and others from becoming true believers, as they made idols out of their own obsession with the Law of God and their own preoccupation with the intricacies of the laws and rules that they had made in their way of observing the Law and the commandments of God.

And it is in idolising their own prejudices and preoccupations with the Law and how it ought to be observed and done that the Pharisees and the teachers of the Law had ended up separating themselves from the True Vine, that is the Lord Himself, Who manifested Himself through His Son, through Whom He wanted to make us know and understand all these things. In our Gospel passage today, we heard of the Lord speaking to His disciples using the parable of the vines in order to deliver to them His intentions and teachings, and to remind them to remain firmly faithful to the teachings and truth of the Good News that He has brought upon them, and which has been revealed to them. They should not seek to find other focus or distractions, or put their emphasis and attention upon other things that may end up misleading them down the wrong path, as what many among the Pharisees and the teachers of the Law had done.

Through the parable of the vine, as well as by referring to Himself as the one and only True Vine, the Lord wanted all of His disciples and followers to remember that everything and especially all those who belong to the Church of God must be rooted in Him, in His teachings and truth. Anyone who separated themselves from the Lord will not have life or part with Him, and those who profess teachings and beliefs contrary to what the Lord Himself had taught His disciples, were wrong and mistaken, and unless they change their ways and beliefs, they would likely end up being discarded, damned and rejected at the end of days. They also can cause division and harm to the unity of the Church, as what happened back then during the time mentioned in our first reading today, was almost the case. Thankfully, the Apostles and the Church elders, guided by the Holy Spirit, convened the very first gathering of the Church, in what would be known as the First Council of Jerusalem.

Through the guidance of the Holy Spirit, the Church led by the Apostles resolved the situation and reaffirmed that the Church and all the Christian faithful ought to follow the Law and commandments of God as revealed and explained by the Lord, but not the grievous excesses, abuses and misrepresentations and misinterpretations of the Law as espoused by the Pharisees and the teachers of the Law. The Lord, as the True Vine, truly guided and gave help and life to the Church, and as long as the faithful remained firmly attached and faithful to Him, they would indeed be blessed and strengthened in their ways and life, and the Lord would provide for them. Unfortunately, a lot of people tend to prefer to depend on other things, and got distracted by the many temptations of worldly desires and attachments found all around us.

That is why all of us must truly grow genuinely in the faith that we have in the Lord, in truly appreciating and understanding the true meaning, purpose and intention of the Law and commandments that God has given to us, in all of His intentions and will, in all that He has done towards us. We are all called to follow Him wholeheartedly in the manner that He Himself had taught and shown us, and we are also reminded not to follow the examples of those Pharisees and Jewish Christians who continued to be prejudiced and biased against those whom they disagreed and felt themselves superior against, that we ourselves do not end up doing the same things and show the same attitude which are truly unbecoming of us as Christians.

May the Lord, our most loving, compassionate and patient God continue to help and lead us all down His righteous path, bringing us all ever closer to Him and helping us all to be truly genuine in our way of living our faith, not merely superficially understanding it, but truly immersing ourselves fully in God’s love in all of our attitudes, actions and way of life, in everything that we say and do, at all times. May God bless our every good efforts and endeavours, now and always, forevermore. Amen.

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Wednesday, 6 May 2026 : 5th Week of Easter (Gospel Reading)

Liturgical Colour : White

John 15 : 1-8

At that time, Jesus said to His disciples, “I am the True Vine and My Father is the Vinegrower. If any of My branches does not bear fruit, He breaks it off; and He prunes every branch that does bear fruit, that it may bear even more fruit.”

“You are already made clean by the word I have spoken to you. Live in Me as I live in you. The branch cannot bear fruit by itself, but has to remain part of the vine; so neither can you, if you do not remain in Me. I am the Vine and you are the branches. As long as you remain in Me and I in you, you bear much fruit; but apart from Me you can do nothing.”

“Whoever does not remain in Me is thrown away, as they do with branches, and they wither. Then they are gathered and thrown into the fire and burnt. If you remain in Me and My words in you, you may ask whatever you want, and it will be given to you. My Father is glorified when you bear much fruit : it is then that you become My disciples.”