Month: May 2019

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Friday, 17 May 2019 : 4th Week of Easter (First Reading)

Liturgical Colour : White

Acts 13 : 26-33

Paul said to the Jews in the synagogue of Antioch in Pisidia, “Brothers, children and descendants of Abraham, and you also who fear God, it is to you that this message of salvation has been sent. It is a fact that the inhabitants of Jerusalem and their leaders did not recognise Jesus.”

“Yet in condemning Him, they fulfilled the words of the prophets that are read every Sabbath but not understood. Even though they found no charge against Him that deserved death, they asked Pilate to have Him executed. And after they have carried out all that had been written concerning Him, they took Him down from the cross and laid Him in a tomb.”

But God raised Him from the dead, and for many days thereafter He showed Himself to those who had come up with Him from Galilee to Jerusalem. They have now become His witnesses before the people. We ourselves announce to you this Good News : All that God promised our ancestors, He has fulfilled for us, their descendants, by raising Jesus, according to what is written in the second psalm : You are My Son, this day I have begotten You.”

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Thursday, 16 May 2019 : 4th Week of Easter (Homily and Scripture Reflections)

Liturgical Colour : White

Dear brothers and sisters in Christ, on this day we listened to the words of the Scripture reminding all of us to be bearers of God’s truth, which He has revealed to all of us through His Church and teachings. All of us are God’s people, to whom He has revealed all these good things for our own benefit. And He has taught us all, so that we ourselves too may become teachers to our fellow brothers and sisters, that everyone may know of God’s ways.

He has revealed to us His truth and the salvation that He has brought into this world, which has been passed on and conveyed to us through the Church, by the continuous labour and plenty of effort from the faithful throughout the ages. From generations to generations the word of God and the truth He brought has been handed on by the courageous and tireless efforts of those who have gone before us.

Had they not laboured hard and persevered, often through moments of great difficulties and persecutions, exile, torture and the constant threat of arrest and even death, we would not have heard and received this truth that we all now have. We have them to thank for their commitment and courage in living their faith so wholeheartedly, in imitating the examples and the dedication of the Apostles.

Now, brothers and sisters in Christ, it was the same challenge which St. Paul the Apostle encountered in the first reading we heard today from the Acts of the Apostles. The Apostle has to go against the hostility of those who refused in the truth which he has brought upon them. And yet he persevered still and tried his best to reach out to them, even though they were not receptive, as he recounted God’s blessings and guidance for His people throughout history.

That was the power and the courage which the Holy Spirit has given him, as he went about doing his work and ministry. The Holy Spirit gave that courage and fire in St. Paul which allowed him to strive and persevere on despite the challenges he had to face, of being ridiculed and rejected, torture and imprisonment, and even almost stoned to death. Through his effort, although many among the people refused to believe, there were some who were converted because of what they heard.

Now, brothers and sisters in Christ, each and every one of us are supposed to continue the work of the Apostles, as there are still many more out there who have not yet received the truth of God, and because we ourselves have benefitted from someone else who devoted themselves to deliver the truth of God, and so it is only right that we give back by devoting ourselves to the same calling that our committed and holy predecessors have received.

How do we do that, brothers and sisters in Christ? We do it through committing ourselves to a life filled with faith and devotion to God, that everyone who see us in our actions, in our words and in our deeds will see in us the truth of God being reflected through our lives. If we otherwise live in ways that do not reflect on our faith, then how do we convince others to believe in us?

Let us all be exemplary in our lives and be committed to be good role models and teachers of the faith for one another. May the Lord be with us and may He empower us to live our lives with faith, now and always. Amen.

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Thursday, 16 May 2019 : 4th Week of Easter (Gospel Reading)

Liturgical Colour : White

John 13 : 16-20

At that time, Jesus said to His disciples, “Truly, I say to you, the servant is not greater than his master, nor is the messenger greater than he who sent him. Understand this, and blessed are you, if you put it into practice.”

“I am not speaking of you all, because I know the ones I have chosen, and the Scripture has to be fulfilled that says : The one who shared My table has risen against Me. I tell you this now before it happens, so that when it does happen, you may know that I am He.”

“Truly, I say to you, whoever welcomes the one I send, welcomes Me; and whoever welcomes Me, welcomes the One Who sent Me.”

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Thursday, 16 May 2019 : 4th Week of Easter (Psalm)

Liturgical Colour : White

Psalm 88 : 2-3, 21-22, 25 and 27

I will sing forever, o Lord, of Your love and proclaim Your faithfulness from age to age. I will declare how steadfast is Your love, how firm Your faithfulness.

I have found David My servant, and with My holy oil I have anointed him. My hand will be ever with him and My arm will sustain.

My faithfulness and love will be with him, and by My help he will be strong. He will call on Me, ‘You are my Father, my God, my Rock, my Saviour.’

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Thursday, 16 May 2019 : 4th Week of Easter (First Reading)

Liturgical Colour : White

Acts 13 : 13-25

From Paphos, Paul and his companions set sail and came to Perga in Pamphylia. There John left them and returned to Jerusalem, while they went on from Perga and came to Antioch in Pisidia. On the Sabbath day they entered the synagogue and sat down. After the reading of the Law and the Prophets, the officials of the synagogue sent this message to them, “Brothers, if you have any word of encouragement for the assembly, please speak up.”

So Paul arose, motioned to them for silence and began, “Fellow Israelites and also all you who fear God, listen. The God of our people Israel chose our ancestors, and after He had made them increase during their stay in Egypt, He led them out by powerful deeds.”

“For forty years He fed them in the desert, and after He had destroyed seven nations in the land of Canaan, He gave them their land as an inheritance. All this took four hundred and fifty years. After that, he gave them Judges until Samuel the prophet. Then they asked for a king and God gave them Saul, son of Kish, of the tribe of Benjamin, and he was king for forty years.”

“After that time, God removed him and raised up David as king, to whom He bore witness saying : ‘I have found David, the son of Jesse, a man after My own heart, who will do all I want him to do.’ It is from the descendants of David that God has now raised up the promised Saviour of Israel, Jesus.”

“Before He appeared, John proclaimed a baptism of repentance for all the people of Israel. As John was ending his life’s work, he said : ‘I am not what you think I am, for after me another One is coming Whose sandal I am not worthy to untie.'”

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Wednesday, 15 May 2019 : 4th Week of Easter (Homily and Scripture Reflections)

Liturgical Colour : White

Dear brothers and sisters in Christ, all of us are reminded on this day through what we have received and read from the Scriptures that God has given us all His commandments and His will, and all of us as His people, His disciples and His servants, all of us ought to do our very best to obey Him and to do whatever we can in our own lives to be as best as disciples and followers as we can in our own respective lives.

In the first reading today, we heard of the sending off of the two Apostles, St. Paul and St. Barnabas, whom God had chosen and let known to the other disciples through the Holy Spirit, that God has called them and has willed them to go forth to the peoples of the Gentiles, meaning those who belong to the non-Jewish communities, the Greeks, Romans and many others, as the two Apostles embarked on an extensive and long missionary journey to the many cities and places throughout the Eastern Mediterranean region.

The two Apostles were empowered to do what the Lord has called them to do, to be the bearers of His truth among those people to whom God had sent them to. They went forth with the guidance, strength and power of the Holy Spirit, to perform all the wondrous miracles and to be able to speak so courageously and fearlessly even amidst persecutions, ridicule and rejection from their enemies and from all those who refused to believe.

They showed all of us the examples of what it truly means for us to be a true disciple and follower of the Lord, who does not just believe in God with words or proclamations only, but even through real action and through the sacrifice of time and generous giving of oneself and effort, ready to lay down everything to God, even their own lives, suffering persecution after persecution, one after another.

Although many of the Apostles and the disciples of the Lord suffered terribly and endured much pain for the sake of their faith, but they persevered on nonetheless because of the strong and living faith which they have in the Lord, their God. They did not let those sufferings to hinder and prevent them from being able to dedicate themselves. In fact those persecutions only served to strengthen their resolve and commitment to do what they have been called to do.

Brothers and sisters in Christ, are we able to emulate our holy predecessors in their numerous good examples? Are we able to do what they have begun, and which all of us now inherit? Yes, we are all the successors of the Apostles, those whom the Lord had called to continue the many works they have sowed with their blood and tears. There are still many works waiting to be done, and each and every one of us have to do our best and give our very best effort.

Let us spend this day thinking of how each and every one of us can contribute in our own way, dedicating ourselves in whatever way we can to follow God’s will and work for His greater glory. We do not have to suffer and die like the Apostles and the disciples of the early Church endured, but rather, we give our very best from our heart, dedicating ourselves thoroughly to serve God at all times.

May the Lord guide us and bless us, and may He strengthen each and every one of us in our journey. May all of us draw strength from God, that we will be ever more faithful and be ever more committed to our faith in all the things we do. Amen.

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Wednesday, 15 May 2019 : 4th Week of Easter (Gospel Reading)

Liturgical Colour : White

John 12 : 44-50

At that time, yet Jesus had said, and even cried out, “Whoever believes in Me, believes not in Me, but in Him Who sent Me. And whoever sees Me, sees Him Who sent Me. I have come into the world as light, so that whoever believes in Me may not remain in darkness.”

“If anyone hears My words and does not keep them, I am not the One to condemn him; for I have come, not to condemn the world, but to save the world. The one who rejects Me, and does not receive My word, already has a judge : the very word I have spoken will condemn him on the last day.”

“For I have not spoken on My own authority; the Father, Who sent Me, has instructed Me in what to say and how to speak. I know that His commandment is eternal life, and that is why the message I give, I give as the Father instructed Me.”

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Wednesday, 15 May 2019 : 4th Week of Easter (Psalm)

Liturgical Colour : White

Psalm 66 : 2-3, 5, 6 and 8

May God be gracious and bless us, may He let His face shine upon us, that Your way be known on earth and Your salvation among the nations.

May the countries be glad and sing for joy, for You rule the peoples with justice and guide the nations of the world.

May the people praise You, o God, may all the peoples praise You! May God bless us and be revered, to the very ends of the earth.

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Wednesday, 15 May 2019 : 4th Week of Easter (First Reading)

Liturgical Colour : White

Acts 12 : 24 – Acts 13 : 5a

Meanwhile the word of God was increasing and spreading. Barnabas and Saul carried out their mission and then came back to Jerusalem, taking with them John also called Mark.

There were at Antioch – in the Church which was there – prophets and teachers : Barnabas, Symeon known as Niger, Lucius of Cyrene, Manaen who had been brought up with Herod, and Saul.

On one occasion while they were celebrating the Lord and fasting, the Holy Spirit said to them, “Set apart for Me Barnabas and Saul to do the work for which I have called them.” So, after fasting and praying, they laid their hands on them and sent them off.

These then, sent by the Holy Spirit, went down the port of Seleucia and from there sailed to Cyprus. Upon their arrival in Salamis they proclaimed the word of God in the Jewish synagogue.

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Tuesday, 14 May 2019 : Feast of St. Matthias, Apostle (Homily and Scripture Reflections)

Liturgical Colour : Red

Dear brothers and sisters in Christ, on this day we celebrate the feast of one of the Twelve Apostles, although one who was not included in the original list of the Twelve Apostles, namely St. Matthias, who was chosen from among the ranks of the disciples, to replace the traitor Judas Iscariot, who left the number of the Twelve Apostles after his betrayal of the Lord and subsequent suicide.

St. Matthias was chosen because he was among the first disciples whom the Lord had called and stayed on with Him all the way throughout His entire ministry. And upon being chosen, St. Matthias filled the gap that was created by Judas Iscariot, taking up the mantle of responsibility that the Lord has given to the Apostles. He carried on the important task of building and establishing the Church which God had built upon their foundation, and went from place to place proclaiming God’s truth.

It was told that St. Matthias went to places as far as Ethiopia and spread the message of the Gospels in places like Cappadocia in Asia Minor, and eventually was martyred in Jerusalem or in the land of Ethiopia according to the different Apostolic traditions and Church history. St. Matthias chose to devote himself completely and thoroughly to the cause of the Lord and served Him so totally so as to give himself wholly to the mission entrusted to him.

St. Matthias and the other Apostles are good examples and role models for us all to follow, as they have shown us what it truly means to live up to the faith and to be fully dedicated to God in all things. St. Matthias did not shy away from suffering through persecutions and challenges, through pains and tribulations, no matter how hard and difficult they are, he continued to persevere and tried his best to do what the Lord had entrusted to him to do.

Likewise, brothers and sisters in Christ, as we recall the glorious life and memories of the many works of St. Matthias as well as the other Apostles and disciples, we bring to attention our own lives and actions. Have we done with our lives in the way the Apostles and the disciples of the Lord had done with theirs? Have we allowed God to perform His wonders and works with us as He has done with the Apostles?

All of us have to realise that the works of the Apostles were aplenty, and they are still not yet done. Many people have followed in their footsteps throughout history, and many of them suffered in the same way that the Apostles and the early faithful members of the Church had done. But yet, they lived their lives with the same courage and faith, committing themselves completely and wholeheartedly to the Lord.

Brothers and sisters in Christ, let us all therefore reflect and think of what else we can do in our lives to devote ourselves to the Lord and commit ourselves to the will of God. We need to do what we can, imitating the good examples of the Apostles and doing what we can to be witnesses of the faith in the midst of our own respective communities. We can do that by practicing our faith with courage and devoting ourselves wholeheartedly.

If we are sincere and committed in living our lives, surely through our own examples and dedication, others will come to see the Lord being present in our lives, and we will become shining beacons of God’s truth for others to see and believe in. Let us all follow in the footsteps of the Apostles, and do our very best to serve the Lord and to love Him in all of our actions and deeds. May the Lord be with us always and may He continue to bless us and be with us each and every moments of our live, now and forevermore. Amen.