Day: April 19, 2013

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Sunday, 7 April 2013 : Second Sunday of Easter, Divine Mercy Sunday (Gospel Reading)

John 20 : 19-31

On the evening of that day, the first day after the Sabbath, the doors were locked where the disciples were, because of their fear of the Jews. But Jesus came, and stood among them, and said to them, “Peace be with you!” Then He showed them His hands and His side. The disciples kept looking at the Lord and were full of joy.

Again Jesus said to them, “Peace be with you! As the Father has sent Me, so I send you.” After saying this, He breathed on them, and said to them, “Receive the Holy Spirit! Those whose sins you forgive, they are forgiven; those whose sins you retain, they are retained.”

Thomas, the Twin, one of the Twelve, was not with them when Jesus came. The other disciples told him, “We have seen the Lord.” But he replied, “Until I have seen in His hands the print of the nails, and put my finger in the mark of the nails and my hand in his side, I will not believe.”

Eight days later, the disciples were inside again and Thomas was with them. Despite the locked doors Jesus came and stood in their midst and said, “Peace be with you!” Then He said to Thomas, “Put your finger here, and see my hands; stretch out your hand, and put it into my side. Don’t be an unbeliever! Believe!”

Thomas then said, “You are my Lord and my God.” Jesus replied, “You believe because you see Me, don’t you? Happy are those who have not seen and yet have come to believe.”

There were many other signs that Jesus gave in the presence of His disciples, but they are not recorded in this book. These are recorded, so that you may believe that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of God. Believe, and you will have life through His Name!

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Sunday, 7 April 2013 : Second Sunday of Easter, Divine Mercy Sunday (Second Reading)

Revelation 1 : 9-11a, 12-13, 17-19

I, John, your brother, who shares with you, in Jesus, the sufferings, the kingdom and the patient endurance, was on the island of Patmos, because of the Word of God and witnessing to Jesus. On the Lord’s day, the Spirit took possession of me and I heard a voice behind me which sounded like a trumpet. “Write down all that you see, in a book, and send it to the seven Churches.”

I turned to see who was speaking to me; behind me were seven golden lampstands and, in the middle of these, I saw someone like a Son of Man, dressed in a long robe tied with a golden girdle.

Seeing Him, I fell at His feet like one dead but He touched me with His right hand and said, “Do not be afraid. It is I, the First and the Last. I am the Living One; I was dead and now I am alive forever and ever; and mine are the keys of death and the netherworld. Now write what you have seen, both what is and what is yet to come.”

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Sunday, 7 April 2013 : Second Sunday of Easter, Divine Mercy Sunday (Psalm)

Psalm 117 : 2-4, 22-24, 25-27a

Let Israel say, “His loving kindness endures forever.” Let the house of Aaron say, “His loving kindness endures forever.” Let those who fear the Lord say, “His loving kindness endures forever.”

The stone rejected by the builders has become the cornerstone. This was the Lord’s doing and we marvel at it. This is the day the Lord has made; so let us rejoice and be glad.

Save us, o Lord, deliver us, o Lord! Blessed is He who comes in the Lord’s Name! We bless You from the house of the Lord. The Lord is God; may His light shine upon us.

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Sunday, 7 April 2013 : Second Sunday of Easter, Divine Mercy Sunday (First Reading)

Acts 5 : 12-16

Many miraculous signs and wonders were done among the people through the hands of the apostles. The believers, of one accord, used to meet in Solomon’s Porch. None of the others dared to join them, but the people held them in high esteem.

So an ever-increasing number of men and women, believed in the Lord. The people carried the sick into the streets and laid them on cots and on mats, so that when Peter passed by, at least his shadow might fall on some of them.

The people gathered from the towns around Jerusalem, bringing their sick and those who were troubled by unclean spirits, and all of them were healed.

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Eighth Anniversary of the Election of Pope Benedict XVI to the Pontificate (19 April 2005)

Happy 8th Anniversary of the election of our beloved Pope Benedict XVI!

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He may have retired, but he will always be our Pope, and so I find that it is still relevant and indeed recommended to celebrate this joyful occasion, that 8 years ago, on 19 April 2005, Cardinal Joseph Ratzinger was elected as Pope Benedict XVI, the 265th Pope. I can still clearly remember the Habemus Papam uttered by Cardinal Jorge Medina Estevez on that day.

Ad multos annos, Holy Father! Pray for us always! May you live long and see through your successors! Support them with your prayers.

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(Image : From the election of Pope Benedict XVI on 19 April 2005)

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On Liturgical Music and Proper Worship (Video by Cardinal Francis Arinze)

A very nice argument by Cardinal Arinze, who was the head of the Congregation for Divine Worship and the Discipline of the Sacraments. This is how and why music, liturgy and all parts of the Mass must be proper (to refute those who says that these are irrelevant), because exactly they help us to be closer to God, to make the worship at the Mass truly a worship, and not instead becoming a glorification of the priest, self, or anyone else besides God.

The parish priests, anywhere in the world, Singapore, Asia, Africa, Europe, and others must make sure that rock music, loud music, clapping in the Mass, even within song is not relevant and therefore must not be used. A hymn, a proper Catholic hymn sung with reverence is much more appropriate and should be promoted.

The way to evangelise to our Catholic youths and youths in general is not to include contemporary music into our worship that makes it less than appropriate, just so that we can attract them. Those music and clapping actions, are more suitable for rally sessions or praise and worship, but NOT for the Mass.

The best way? Introduce our youths to the proper and solemn music, many of which are beautiful and no longer heard today, sunk by all the ugly contemporary music the likes of those by Lady Gaga, Psy, and so many others, which are contemptuous twisting of the true beauty of music, which purpose, like what the angels are doing in heaven, is to praise the Lord in His glory. Gregorian chants in Latin and other chants and hymns in the vernacular languages are the way to go.

We are the Church, and we worship the Lord in the Mass. We are not going to a marketplace or attending music concert when we attend the Mass, instead in the Mass we are with the Lord and through our tongues we praise Him with glorious and beautiful hymns appropriate to worship Him!

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Saturday, 6 April 2013 : Saturday of the Easter Octave (Scripture Reflection)

“To obey God instead of men.” Yes, Peter and John the Apostles faced the chief priests and the Sanhedrin who questioned them about teaching in the Name of Jesus and testifying in His Name, and even under pressure from them to stop, the Apostles did nothing of the sort and instead continue to step up their teachings ever further around Jerusalem and beyond to the ends of the earth just as commanded by Christ, that they be the progenitor of conversion into the faith in Christ, by testifying on the Good News and Christ Himself, on the Risen Christ who conquered death and on God the Almighty.

The chief priests, the Pharisees, the Sadducees, and the Sanhedrin, who are respected members of the society at the time, rejected the testimony of the Apostles and were openly hostile against them, just as they had opposed Jesus, and brought Him to crucifixion through false charges. This was because mainly of their human jealousy against Jesus, that Christ had usurped from them the authority to teach the Law. But in fact, that teaching authority was not even theirs to begin with, if not given by the Father in heaven, just as Pilate had no authority over Jesus, if it had not been given him by the Father.

The Jewish priests preferred human love to the love of God, preferring the praise of men and the approval of fellow man and their Roman masters to the approval that comes from God. This was why they were against Jesus from the very beginning, and earned Jesus’ rebuke as hypocrites almost every time He was referring to them, and even after His death and resurrection, they would not let the Apostles now to do what they like, as to them, the fact that they are teaching about the resurrection usurped their ‘authority’ ever more and also placed the blame on them on having crucified Christ the Messiah, rejecting Him and putting Him onto the cross.

The Sadducees were mentioned in particular, because they were a faction most stubbornly against any notion of resurrection from the dead and the life in the afterlife. They had confronted Jesus before His Passion on the resurrection, and when confronted with the Apostles, and their teaching that Christ had risen from the dead and showed Himself to them was an unacceptable fact to the Sadducees. The mental block against the truth of Christ had been deeply embedded within their minds, just as the block of pride and arrogance that were within the minds of the chief priests and the Pharisees, that they saw themselves as paragons of virtue and ideal of the faithful, where in fact they had corrupted the faithful people of Israel, and misled them in their path towards God.

Human pride had always been a very difficult hurdle to be overcome, and the sin of pride was indeed what made the evil one, once known as Lucifer, mightiest among angels in heaven, to fall, and in his fall, brought a third of angels in rebellion with him, and in his treachery, tempted Adam and Eve, our ancestors into rebellion against God as well. It is our human pride that prevented us from returning to God, and from humbly submitting ourselves to God’s love and mercy. It also prevents us from opening our hearts and minds to receive the Lord and to listen to His words.

Therefore brothers and sisters in Christ, let us strive in this Easter season to lower our human pride and sharpen the edge of our humility and our love, that we will reach out more to others and spread the Good News through our actions infused with love that is of the Lord. Open our hearts to receive the Lord, and do not harden it against Him. Forgive one another and support one another in times of joy and sorrow. May God bless us all. Amen.