Month: April 2024

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Saturday, 4 May 2024 : 5th Week of Easter (Homily and Scripture Reflections)

Liturgical Colour : White

Dear brothers and sisters in Christ, today we listened to the words of the Sacred Scriptures in which we are all reminded that as Christians, each and every one of us have been called from the world and chosen to be God’s own beloved people, as we have embraced His love and truth, His salvation and assurance of eternal life for all of us. All of us as His beloved and holy people have been called and expected to live our lives worthily of God, that we may do our very best in proclaiming His truth and love in our respective communities, in every opportunities and responsibilities entrusted to us. Each and every one of us as Christians have been called to be those who are truly exemplary and inspirational in our lives and actions so that by our every actions, words and deeds, we may continue to inspire and touch the lives of many others around us.

In our first reading today, we heard the continuation of the account from the Acts of the Apostles in which the works of St. Paul was further elaborated to us, in how he carried on his missionary journey and works among the people in various places. At that time in particular, St. Paul was travelling with his companions such as St. Timothy mentioned in the passage today, and others like St. Luke, St. Barnabas and more, all throughout the different parts and regions of Asia Minor, going from place to place, towns to towns to glorify the Lord and to proclaim His Good News and truth. Through their hard works and efforts, they had convinced many people to become Christian believers as well, embracing God’s fullness of truth and love, and entering into a new relationship with Him and a new life in Him.

We heard how the Lord was with His Apostles, guiding and strengthening them in their path as they carried out their mission, amidst all the challenges and trials that they were facing. He guided them through the Holy Spirit, Who led and guided them to go wherever God had wanted them to go to, just as we heard how the Spirit guided St. Paul to go to a certain place, giving him dreams and leads to bring him and his companions to places where there are more need for evangelisation and outreach towards all those who have not yet known the Lord. Essentially what we have heard was the way how the Lord exercised His guidance and providence for His faithful servants, guiding and leading the works and ministries of His Church so that through everything that they did, they might spread ever further the message of the Gospel of Christ, the Good News of God.

In our Gospel passage today, we then heard of the words of the Lord Jesus Who reassured His disciples and reminded them all that if they were to suffer persecutions, oppressions and hardships in the future, then all those happened just because the world itself had also opposed and persecuted the Lord Himself, Who had to endure the most painful sufferings and the greatest of humiliations for the sake of our salvation, just as He took upon His Cross and faced the greatest of all of His trials, so that by His suffering and death, He might save all of us and bring us all into a new and eternal life with Him, reconciled and reunited with God. If the Lord Himself had suffered, then it is only natural that His disciples and followers would likely have to endure the same fate as well.

But the Lord reassured them all that they were not alone, and the Lord Himself would always be with them, promising them that the Advocate, the Helper, Who is the Holy Spirit, would come into their midst and be with them, helping and guiding them in their works and ministries, in everything that they say and do, for the greater glory of God. The Lord promised them all that their rewards would truly be great in Him and that He will be with them in all things and at all times, and would prepare for them the everlasting glory and honour reserved to those who have remained and kept their faith in Him, despite all the challenges, trials and sufferings that they had to face as the disciples, followers and missionaries of the Lord and Saviour of all.

Brothers and sisters in Christ, today as we listened to these words from the Sacred Scriptures, we are therefore reminded of the Lord’s Presence in our midst and in all the things that we say and do, in all of our efforts, endeavours and good works that He has entrusted to us and which we have carried out and are doing for the greater glory of God and for the salvation of souls. We are all called to continue the great works which the Lord had begun through His Apostles and disciples, all those who have given their best efforts and their whole lives for the Lord. There are still a lot of works for us to do in this world today, in our various communities and places of responsibilities, in proclaiming God’s Good News and truth to all the people of all the nations.

Each and every one of us have been entrusted with the gifts, abilities and opportunities which the Lord had provided to us and blessed us with. With these comes the responsibilities and calling through which we should commit ourselves in even the smallest ways that we will always continue to show the Lord’s Good News and truth, His love and ways to everyone whom we encounter and interact with. We should always strive to be the bearers of God’s truth and be good and worthy role models for one another. Like that of the Apostles and the disciples of the Lord before us, who have inspired us with their exemplary lives and actions, we should ourselves therefore be good and worthy disciples and followers of the Lord as well, in living our own lives led and strengthened by the Holy Spirit.

May the Risen Lord continue to be with us and guide us in all of our journey and efforts throughout life. May He continue to strengthen our resolve to live our lives worthily of Him and to endure all sorts of trials, challenges and tribulations, so that despite whatever it is that we may need to face in our lives, we will always be strong and inspired to follow His path, and the examples of the holy men and women who had gone before us, so that by our lives and perseverance, our own faith and commitment, more and more may come to believe in the Lord as well and be saved through God’s light and salvation. Amen.

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Saturday, 4 May 2024 : 5th Week of Easter (Gospel Reading)

Liturgical Colour : White

John 15 : 18-21

At that time, Jesus said to His disciples, “If the world hates you, remember that the world hated Me before you. This would not be so if you belonged to the world, because the world loves its own. But you are not of the world, since I have chosen you from the world; because of this the world hates you.”

“Remember what I told you : the servant is not greater than his master; if they persecuted Me, they will persecute you, too. If they kept My word, they will keep yours as well. All this they will do to you for the sake of My Name, because they do not know the One Who sent Me.”

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Saturday, 4 May 2024 : 5th Week of Easter (Psalm)

Liturgical Colour : White

Psalm 99 : 2, 3, 5

Serve the Lord with gladness; come before Him with joyful songs.

Know that the Lord is God; He created us and we are His people, the sheep of His fold.

For the Lord is good; His love lasts forever and His faithfulness through all generations.

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Saturday, 4 May 2024 : 5th Week of Easter (First Reading)

Liturgical Colour : White

Acts 16 : 1-10

Paul travelled on to Derbe and then to Lystra. A disciple named Timothy lived there, whose mother was a believer of Jewish origin but whose father was a Greek. As the believers at Lystra and Iconium spoke well of him, Paul wanted Timothy to accompany him. So he took him and, because of the Jews of that place who all knew that his father was a Greek, he circumcised him.

As they travelled from town to town, they delivered the decisions of the Apostles and elders in Jerusalem, for the people to obey. Meanwhile, the churches grew stronger in faith and increased in number every day.

They travelled through Phrygia and Galatia, because they had been prevented by the Holy Spirit from preaching the message in the province of Asia. When they came to Mysia, they tried to go to Bithynia, but the Spirit of Jesus did not allow them to do this. So, passing by Mysia, they went down to Troas.

There one night Paul had a vision. A Macedonian stood before him and begged him, “Come over to Macedonia and help us!” When he awoke, he told us of this vision and we understood that the Lord was calling us to give the Good News to the Macedonian people.

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Friday, 3 May 2024 : Feast of St. Philip and St. James, Apostles (Homily and Scripture Reflections)

Liturgical Colour : Red

Dear brothers and sisters in Christ, today the Church celebrates the Feast of not just one but two of the Twelve Apostles of the Lord, namely that of St. Philip the Apostle and St. James the Apostle. The latter should not be confused with St. James the brother of St. John the Apostle, who was also an Apostle of the Lord. This St. James whose feast we are celebrating today with St. Philip was also known as St. James the Less or St. James the Lesser, called so not because he was less distinguished but rather because he was physically shorter than St. James the Greater, the brother of St. John. Both St. Philip and St. James the Less dedicated themselves to the Lord and to the missions entrusted to them, and they were faithful to the very end of their lives.

St. Philip was mentioned several times throughout the Gospels and the Acts of the Apostles, as he accompanied the Lord on His mission and doing the works of the disciples of the Lord, and later on after the Lord had died, risen from the dead, and finally ascended into Heaven, St. Philip would go forth and do just as the other Apostles had done, in proclaiming the Good News of the Lord to many people, initially in the regions of Samaria where quite a few among the Samaritans had been receptive and welcoming towards the Lord and His messages and truth. St. Philip therefore continued the good works that the Lord and His disciples had begun in that region, as he laboured hard to preach the truth of God to more and more people.

According to the Acts of the Apostles, St. Philip was the one who preached the Good News to an Ethiopian official who was on his way back home from Jerusalem. St. Philip spoke with great wisdom and truth, and managed to convince the Ethiopian official, who agreed to be baptised and becoming a disciple of Christ, and hence, bringing the Christian faith back to his Ethiopian homeland. St. Philip would continue to carry on various works for the Lord, going forth on missionary journeys to various places, such as Greece, Syria and Asia Minor, where he spent time and effort going from place to place, town to town to spread the Gospels and to teach the people about the Lord, about His truth and salvation. Through his efforts, many were converted to the faith and became believers, although he did encounter significant opposition and obstacles as well.

St. Philip went through lots of tribulations and yet he still courageously carried on with his responsibilities, spending much time and sacrifices to do the will of God, endlessly and faithfully carrying out the mission entrusted to him. According to Apostolic tradition of the Church fathers, like most of the other Apostles, he went through sufferings and martyrdom at the end of his ministry and life, which happened in the region of Hierapolis in Asia Minor, where he performed his preaching and miracles, which led to the healing and conversion of the wife of the local proconsul, which enraged the latter and led him to order the arrest, torture and finally the martyrdom of both St. Philip and another Apostle, St. Bartholomew, who in some traditions were crucified upside-down.

Meanwhile, St. James the Less also carried out similar works of evangelisation and spreading of the Good News, beginning from the land of Judea and then to other places. Less information were available about him due to the frequent confusion between the identity of the one identified as St. James the Less, as some attributed him to St. James, son of Alpheus, one of the Twelve, and yet others attributed him to one St. James the Just, who was the first bishop of Jerusalem, and who was one of the Lord’s relative. Regardless of the true facts or the true identity of St. James, he did wonderful works for the Lord’s sake, and he patiently endured all the challenges and trials, guiding the faithful people of God to the right path, and was also martyred at the end of his life and ministry.

Brothers and sisters in Christ, today as we recall the memory of their great faith and contribution to the Church and the faithful people of God, we remember how St. Philip and St. James the Less dedicated themselves to the Lord and spent their whole lives and ministries in trying to proclaim the truth and Good News of God to more and more people. They did not spare the effort and not even their own lives in doing so, and by their great examples and way of life, they have truly shown everyone what it truly means to be a disciple and follower of Christ, and how one should truly live his or her life so that he or she can truly be worthy of Him. The Lord had guided and strengthened them, and in the same manner, He has also guided and strengthened many others of our predecessors who have given their lives and efforts to glorify the Lord.

Now, what each and every one of us are called to do is to embrace God’s calling, to take up the missions which He had entrusted to us, in all the great diversities and types of missions, vocations and whatever it is that we have been entrusted with, in the various commitments, opportunities and in all the talents and abilities that we have been blessed with. Each and every one of us as members and parts of the Church of God, the same Body of Christ, are the ones who have been entrusted with the same missions as those of the Apostles. Therefore, we are also expected to do our best to proclaim the Lord, His Good News and truth to all the people in all the occasions and opportunities we have been presented with in our respective lives.

Let us all therefore continue to live our lives most worthily in the Lord, doing our very best so that in everything that we say and do we will always be ready to glorify God by our lives. Let us all be ever ready to walk the path that the Lord has shown us, even amidst the trials, challenges and obstacles that we may face in our daily living. Let the examples of the Holy Apostles, especially St. Philip and St. James continue to strengthen and encourage us to do our best in being worthy and faithful evangelisers and missionaries of the Lord, in even the smallest things that we do, in showing God’s Love and truth to all the people, through our own exemplary lives and actions. May the Risen Lord be with us all and may He empower us all to do His will, and to be His faithful disciples always. Amen.

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Friday, 3 May 2024 : Feast of St. Philip and St. James, Apostles (Gospel Reading)

Liturgical Colour : Red

John 14 : 6-14

At that time, Jesus said to His disciples, “I am the Way, the Truth and the Life; no one comes to the Father but through Me. If you know Me, you will know the Father also; indeed you know Him, and you have seen Him.”

Philip asked Him, “Lord, show us the Father, and that is enough.” Jesus said to him, “What! I have been with you so long and you still do not know Me, Philip? Whoever sees Me sees the Father; how can you say, ‘Show us the Father’? Do you not believe that I am in the Father and the Father is in Me?”

“All that I say to you, I do not say of Myself. The Father Who dwells in Me is doing His own work. Believe Me when I say that I am in the Father and the Father is in Me; at least believe it on the evidence of these works that I do. Truly, I say to you, the one who believes in Me will do the same works that I do; and he will even do greater than these, for I am going to the Father.”

“Everything you ask in My Name, I will do, so that the Father may be glorified in the Son. Indeed, anything you ask, calling upon My Name, I will do.”

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Friday, 3 May 2024 : Feast of St. Philip and St. James, Apostles (Psalm)

Liturgical Colour : Red

Psalm 18 : 2-3, 4-5

The heavens declare the glory of God; the firmament proclaims the work of His hands. Day talks it over with day; night hands on the knowledge to night.

No speech, no words, no voice is heard – but the call goes on throughout the universe, the message is felt to the ends of the earth.

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Friday, 3 May 2024 : Feast of St. Philip and St. James, Apostles (First Reading)

Liturgical Colour : Red

1 Corinthians 15 : 1-8

Let me remind you, brothers and sisters, of the Good News that I preached to you and which you received and on which you stand firm. By that Gospel you are saved, provided that you hold to it as I preached it. Otherwise, you will have believed in vain.

In the first place, I have passed on to you what I myself received that Christ died for our sins, as Scripture says; that He was buried; that He was raised on the third day, according to the Scriptures; that He appeared to Cephas and then to the Twelve. Afterwards He appeared to more than five hundred brothers and sisters together; most of them are still alive, although some have already gone to rest.

Then He appeared to James and after that to all the Apostles. And last of all, He appeared to the most despicable of them, this is to me.

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Thursday, 2 May 2024 : 5th Week of Easter, Memorial of St. Athanasius, Bishop and Doctor of the Church (Homily and Scripture Reflections)

Liturgical Colour : White

Dear brothers and sisters in Christ, today as we listened to the words of the Scriptures we are all reminded of the need for us to follow and obey the commandments of God wholeheartedly and to understand what He has taught and entrusted to us so that in all the things we say and do, we shall always be focused and centred on the Lord, full of love and commitment for Him and then at the same time, also filled with genuine love for our fellow brothers and sisters all around us. We must not allow the temptations of worldly glory and desires from misleading us down the wrong path in life, as it is by following the Lord wholeheartedly and obeying Him that we shall find the path towards God’s grace and assured of His salvation.

In our first reading today, we heard of the continuation of the story from Acts of the Apostles when the Church was being divided on the issue of whether the Christian faithful ought to obey and follow the whole suit of the entire Jewish laws, customs, rituals and practices which was the favoured position of those who converted to the Christian faith from among the Pharisees and the more hardline ones among the Jewish people, demanding the Gentiles or the non-Jewish people to adopt wholesale the entire rules and laws concerning the Jewish customs and practices. This would have made it very difficult for the non-Jewish Christian converts to live their lives and consequently would have placed great burden on all those who seek to live their lives faithfully in God’s path.

That was why St. Paul and St. Barnabas adamantly insisted that this should not be the way how the Church should proceed forward. They brought the discussion to the table to the Apostles in Jerusalem, highlighting before the whole assembly of the faithful how God has done His great works, signs and miracles among the non-Jewish people as well, showing that He has truly called on everyone to follow Him regardless of their cultural, racial and original background, and He loved everyone regardless of their differences, and thus the Church should also act in the same manner by not making it difficult for those who did not come from Jewish background or origin to follow the Lord and His path, as the way how the Pharisees practiced the Law and the commandments of God was rather excessive and unnecessary.

Therefore in this first Council of the Church, historically known as the First Council of Jerusalem, the Apostles led by St. Peter, the first Pope and Vicar of Christ decided that all the faithful people of God are not bound to the extensive and rigid application of the Jewish laws, rules, customs and rituals, and they also set the standard of what the faithful ought to believe in, a standard which continued to evolve and became more standardised later on, and yet, in its basic form and core tenet remains what we also believe today in our Christian faith. We are all reminded through these that what truly matters in our faith as Christians is for us to follow the Lord faithfully and focus ourselves thoroughly in Him, making God as the centre and focus of our lives, and not like how those Pharisees and teachers of the Law who had become so obsessed in the laws and customs they preserved, that they ended up idolising those laws and customs while forgetting the very purpose why those laws and customs were given to us in the first place.

As Christians, all of us are reminded this day that we must truly have that strong and genuine love for the Lord our God and then also have the same love for our fellow brothers and sisters, our fellow men and women. All of us must always live our lives in a manner that is worthy of the Lord so that by our every actions, words and deeds, we will always continue to proclaim the glory of God and show His love and truth to everyone whom we encounter in life. Through our faithful and worthy lives therefore we may inspire countless others who have experienced us in their lives, either through their friendship or relationship with us, or through our simple actions and words, even for those whom we do not know at all, like strangers and others in our midst.

Today, the Church celebrates the feast of a great saint and man of God whose life and contributions to the Church and the Christian faithful were truly great and remarkable. St. Athanasius was renowned for his courageous stand and defence of the true and orthodox faith against the dangerous threats of heresies and falsehoods which were rampant and common at that time, threatening not just the fate and salvation of many souls but also destroying the unity of the Church through schisms and the divisions because of all the heresies which had misled so many of the faithful into the wrong and evil paths. St. Athanasius in his role as a great Church father and leader of the Church especially as the Pope and Patriarch of Alexandria, is an inspiration for all of us to follow in how we ought to live up to our Christian faith.

St. Athanasius was born into a Christian family in Egypt during the time of Diocletianic Persecution, the last great official persecution of Christians in the Roman Empire. He grew up and matured just as the Christians throughout the Empire began to be emancipated and freed from all the many years of persecutions they were facing back then. He was well educated and eventually was prepared for clerical life by the then Bishop of Alexandria for his outstanding character and talents even early on in his youth. St. Athanasius became a great theologian and was a strong supporter of the orthodox Christian truth against the then popular and widespread heresy of Arianism popularised by the very charismatic preacher named Arius who turned many people from the true faith into heresy and who had many supporters from even among the bishops and priests of the Church, as well as among the secular rulers and nobles.

Yet, that did not dampen the spirit and courage shown by St. Athanasius, who as the Patriarch of Alexandria and as one the most influential leaders of the Church at the time became one of the champions of the true faith against all those who sought to pervert and change God’s teachings and truths for their own selfish ambitions and desires. He was one of the supporters of the true teaching of the Lord, defending the equality and the consubstantiality of the Son of God with the Father, something that the Arians refused to accept. He continued to minister faithfully to the people of God and to all the flock entrusted to his care amidst all the conflicts against the heretics, particularly with all the Arians and their supporters. He had to endure a lot of trials and challenges, and even exile at times from his See.

Yet, St. Athanasius continued to be firmly faithful and devoted himself thoroughly to his mission and calling in defending the faithful and the faith itself from being tainted by the falsehoods and heresies of his time. He wrote extensively on the many matters of the faith and his writings on the defence against the heresies of his time remained well-known and well-read to this day. St. Athanasius like those of St. Paul and St. Barnabas before him did his best to do God’s will and courageously stood up for the true Christian faith and teachings against all those who sought to change or corrupt those teachings for their own selfish desires and ambitions. Through his good examples and actions, he had brought so many people and souls closer to God’s salvation and grace, and many others to be inspired by their courage and examples.

Brothers and sisters in Christ, let us all therefore continue to proclaim the Lord’s truth and reach out to our fellow brothers and sisters, to all those who have not yet known or experienced the Lord in their lives. Let our own lives and examples, like that of St. Athanasius and the Holy Apostles, the many other saints and holy men and women of God, be the source of light and hope, inspiration and strength for others. May the Risen Lord continue to bless our every good efforts and endeavours, and may He empower us all to live ever more worthily in His Presence, now and always. Amen.

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Thursday, 2 May 2024 : 5th Week of Easter, Memorial of St. Athanasius, Bishop and Doctor of the Church (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.”