Day: May 9, 2016

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Thursday, 12 May 2016 : Seventh Week of Easter, Memorial of St. Nereus and St. Achilleus, Martyrs and St. Pancras, Martyr (Gospel Reading)

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 I also may be in them.”

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Thursday, 12 May 2016 : Seventh Week of Easter, Memorial of St. Nereus and St. Achilleus, Martyrs and St. Pancras, Martyr (Psalm)

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.

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Thursday, 12 May 2016 : Seventh Week of Easter, Memorial of St. Nereus and St. Achilleus, Martyrs and St. Pancras, Martyr (First Reading)

Liturgical Colour : White

Acts 22 : 30 and Acts 23 : 6-11

The next day the commander wanted to know for certain the charge 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 in 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.”

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Wednesday, 11 May 2016 : Seventh Week of Easter (Homily and Scripture Reflections)

Liturgical Colour : White

Dear brothers and sisters in Christ, on this day as we heard the continuation of the discourse which St. Paul had with the elders, the bishops, priests and the faithful of the Church in Ephesus, we heard of the reminders that we all should also pay attention to, in how they ought to live their lives faithfully, committed to God. St. Paul reminded the people of Ephesus on what things to expect as they live in faith.

In the Gospel, we also heard about the prayer of our Lord Jesus Christ to His Father in heaven, during the moments just before He was about to suffer, to be crucified and to die on the cross. He prayed that the Lord His Father would protect His disciples and keep them from harm’s way, and from the predation and attacks by the evil one. He prayed that they will remain in God’s grace and remain as one people faithful to God.

In all these, there is a similar theme to all, that is the alertness, the readiness and the care which all of us must take against the encroachments of evil, the allure and the pull of darkness, and all the methods and ways which the devil and its fellow allies are using against each one of us who are faithful to God. We must realise that the danger and the threat are ever present, and we cannot be less prepared or be less aware of the danger.

As Christians, and indeed as human beings, all of us are always presented with choices in our respective lives. And with each of the choices we made, we are presented with the consequences that are inevitable to come for each of these choices that we made. If we act in ways that are contrary to God’s laws and teachings, then we only invite harm and danger to ourselves, and then, it is not only affecting us, but in fact, also others around us.

How is this so, brothers and sisters in Christ? It is because we mankind are visual and auditory creatures, and we form our judgments and ideas based on what we see, what we hear and what we witness in others. How would people believe in us, no matter what we show them and teach them, if we as Christians do not act as how Christians should act? Indeed, if we do things that are contrary to our faith, we even would scandalise our faith, and prevent people from ever reaching salvation.

And if by our actions we have caused our fellow brethren to be condemned and thrown into hell, then we too would be held responsible for their downfall. We should have inspired them and helped them to attain salvation in God, and yet, what we have done had merely made them to go even further in their own sinful ways and prevent them from approaching the Lord through faith, because they saw in us the wickedness of the faithful.

Therefore, all of us today are challenged, just as St. Paul had reminded and challenged the elders, the bishops and the shepherds of God’s people in Ephesus. And this challenge is that we all should live our lives faithfully as Christians, and we should devote our time and our actions to be truly worthy of being called as Christians, that is by obeying the Lord in all of His laws and commandments, loving and caring for our fellow brethren, and acting with full faith in God.

Brothers and sisters in Christ, the challenge has been given to us. Are we up to the challenge? It is up to us to choose whether we want to walk in this path, difficult and challenging, but reaps rich rewards of eternal life and glory in God, or we rather follow the path that is offered to us, the easier path of the world that leads to uncertainty and even to damnation.

Let us pray for discernment, that God will strengthen our faith and our resolve. May all of us be ever more courageous to carry out the laws and commandments of God in all of our actions, even if those actions may not be viewed favourably by others around us. Let us remember that we live to serve the Lord and not to serve the world. Let us all work together, so that hopefully at the end of the days, when the Lord comes again to claim us His faithful ones, He may find us worthy and just, and thus bring us to everlasting life. God bless us all. Amen.

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Wednesday, 11 May 2016 : Seventh Week of Easter (Gospel Reading)

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.”

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Wednesday, 11 May 2016 : Seventh Week of Easter (Psalm)

Liturgical Colour : White

Psalm 67 : 29-30, 33-35a, 35bc and 36c

Summon Your power, o God, with the strength You have wielded for us. To Your Temple in Jerusalem, kings will come with gifts.

Sing to God, o kingdoms of the world; sing praises to the Lord, to Him Who rides the ancient heavens and speaks in the voice of thunder. Proclaim the might of God.

He is great in Israel, powerful in heavens. Blessed be God!

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Wednesday, 11 May 2016 : Seventh Week of Easter (First Reading)

Liturgical Colour : White

Acts 20 : 28-38

Keep watch over yourselves and over the whole flock the Holy Spirit has placed into your care. Shepherd the Church of the Lord that He has won at the price of His own Blood. I know that after I leave, ruthless wolves will come among you and not spare the flock. And from among you, some will arise corrupting the truth and inducing the disciples to follow them.

Be on the watch, therefore, remembering that for three years, night and day, I did not cease to warn everyone even with tears. Now I commend you to God and to His grace-filled word, which is able to make you grow and gain the inheritance that you shall share with all the saints.

I have not looked for anyone’s silver, gold or clothing. You yourselves know that these hands of mine, have provided for both my needs and the needs of those who were with me. In every way I have shown you that by working hard one must help the weak, remembering the words that the Lord Jesus Himself said, “Happiness lies more in giving than in receiving.”

After this discourse, Paul knelt down with them and prayed. Then they all began to weep and threw their arms around him and kissed him. They were deeply distressed because he had said that they would never see him again. And they went with him even to the ship.

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Tuesday, 10 May 2016 : Seventh Week of Easter (Homily and Scripture Reflections)

Liturgical Colour : White

Dear brothers and sisters in Christ, today we heard in the Scriptures the prayers and the wishes of those who have done the will of God and been faithful to the end. St. Paul was meeting the elders, the bishops and priests of the Church in Ephesus as a farewell to them, because he knew that afterwards he would never see them again, as he was going to his eventual martyrdom in Rome.

In the Gospel today, Jesus our Lord spoke to His disciples at the Last Supper, where He spoke to them about many things at the culmination of His earthly ministry. He prayed to God the Father to bless and strengthen His disciples through the difficult times that was to come, so that they might persevere through those challenging times.

Both St. Paul and Jesus our Lord had completed the respective works which they were given by the Lord, that is to give the people of God the truth and the revelation of the truth of God’s mysteries, and to reveal to them the nature of God’s love and mercy for mankind. They were then going to their end, the end of their earthly lives, having completed what they were supposed to do, faithful to the end and their rewards would be great.

They showed us all the attitudes which we as the disciples and followers of our Lord should have in our lives. We should first put our complete trust in the Lord, and believe in the providence and help which He will give to us and bless us with. We must remember that He will not abandon us in our time of great need, and He will always guard us and protect us as long as we keep our faith in Him.

He will not abandon us to the darkness and to the devil, but we must also realise that the path of being faithful to Him will not be an easy one, just as St. Paul himself had demonstrated, together with the other Apostles, disciples and martyrs of the Church who have encountered those challenges and difficulties in living their lives faithfully and against the forces of the world.

Brothers and sisters in Christ, challenges and obstacles are part and parcel of our lives as Christians, primarily because the ways of this world, as we all should now, are not in accordance to the ways of the Lord, and very often, they would come into conflict against each other. And thus, the world will indeed persecute the faithful people of God, just as they had done in the ages past.

It will not be easy indeed, brethren, many of those who have preceded us lived their lives in difficulty, persevering through the challenges, some were imprisoned, some were tortured and in pain, and some even lost their lives for the sake of the Lord. And yet, these had gone to their heavenly reward, receiving the glory of God and the eternal life promised to them, while those who compromised their faith and submitted to the world had also gone to their just reward, that is eternal suffering and damnation in hell.

We should all realise that for us all, it is now up to us to live our lives, and how we should act and do things in this life, so that we can be either faithful or faithless to God. Let us just ask ourselves this one question, what do we want to see in our own respective lives, if at the very end of our earthly lives, we are able to look back at our every single actions and deeds? What do we want to see, brethren? Do we want to see a life filled with justice and good deeds, worthy of the Lord? Or do we rather see a life of wickedness and evil, and unworthy of the Lord?

The choice is ours brethren, and let us all pray as St. Paul had done, that we may be given the strength and the grace to live our lives filled with faith and with confidence, knowing that if we are faithful to God’s ways, we shall never be disappointed and receive the eternal glory and life promised to all of us. Lord, our God and Father, remain with us always. Amen.