Day: May 11, 2025

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Thursday, 15 May 2025 : 4th Week of Easter (Homily and Scripture Reflections)

Liturgical Colour : White

Dear brothers and sisters in Christ, today as we all listened to the words of the Sacred Scriptures, we are all reminded of the need for all of us to trust in the Lord wholeheartedly and to remember that as God’s servants and followers, we should always live our lives in fulfilling what He has commanded us to do, in doing what the Lord has taught us, in proclaiming His Good News and truth to all the people of all the nations. Each and every one of us as Christians have been given the mission and the responsibilities to be good and faithful disciples, to be dedicated to one another and to be exemplary in our lives and ways so that everyone may know the Lord and His truth and Good News through our lives and actions.

In our first reading today, we heard from the Acts of the Apostles in which the works of the Apostles like St. Paul was told to us. St. Paul was speaking in the synagogue in Antioch in Pisidia where he proclaimed the words of encouragement to the people of God, the Jewish community in that place in their synagogue, by going through the history of God’s salvation for His people, and how He has been with all of them throughout history, providing for all of them from the time of the Exodus from Egypt and then afterwards when they were already settled in the land promised to them by God. He continued to show them all His love and all of these were fulfilled completely in the Lord Jesus Christ, Who manifested God’s love in the flesh, making Himself approachable and tangible to us.

St. Paul wanted to share with the Jewish community in that place of the truth and Good News which the Lord had brought into their midst by His coming. He wanted to convince all of them that Jesus was truly the One sent by God, the Messiah long awaited by the world and prophesied by the many prophets throughout history. This is because many among the Jewish community still had not yet believed in the Risen Lord, especially those who sided with the Pharisees and upheld their opposition against the Lord and His ways and teachings. And although St. Paul was chiefly remembered for his missionary works and efforts, as well as focus on evangelising towards the non-Jewish people or the Gentiles, but it did not mean that he neglected ministering to the Jewish people.

This is a reminder for all of us that God’s love and salvation has been meant for everyone, for all of His creation, all mankind, without any exceptions, and no one is truly beyond the reach of God’s love and mercy. That is why we are also reminded of our own respective calling and mission in life to proclaim the Good News and truth of God to more and more people, to everyone whom we encounter daily in life. Each and every one of us have the responsibility to reveal our most loving and compassionate, merciful and kind God to everyone through our own actions, words and deeds in life, through our every interactions and our every moments in life. We have been given the opportunities and more to do what God has entrusted to us, the abilities and all the means through which we can positively impact the lives of others around us, by revealing to them the face of God’s love and truth.

Then from our Gospel passage today taken from the Gospel according to St. John the Apostle and Evangelist, we heard of the account of the moment when the Lord told His disciples that the servant wasn’t greater than the master, and also at the same time predicting how He would be betrayed by one of His own disciples. Then, He also said about how those who truly know Him also know the Father, the Lord and Master of all. As the Lord said this, it was in fact a reminder to all of His disciples and hence all of us to follow the example of Christ’ obedience in all things, in how He obeyed perfectly the Father’s will, even to the point of suffering betrayal and the worst of sufferings, pains and hardships all so that He could perfectly fulfil everything that God had planned for us, the great love that He has for each one of us.

We are reminded as the servants and followers of God, all of us should always imitate our Lord and Master in all things, and this means that we should always be full of love just as He is Love itself, manifested perfectly in the flesh and in all of His actions. All the love that He has generously shown to us, we should also have in us, and we should love Him first and foremost above all else, and then we should also show that same love to our fellow brothers and sisters as well, loving everyone around us to the best of our abilities. Without love, we are empty and dead in us, and without love, our faith is meaningless and empty. That is why, as Christians, we truly must reflect the light of Christ in us, His love and kindness, His mercy and compassion, just as the Apostles like St. Paul had done, in inspiring everyone that he encountered with the love of Christ.

Brothers and sisters in Christ, the works of the Apostles are far from over, and there are still many areas where the efforts of the Church are still needed in this world. There are still many areas where evangelisation and the teachings of the faith are needed, and our contributions, in whatever areas we can contribute and commit are very important, as although each one of our efforts may be small and minute in comparison, but all of these combine together as the efforts of the whole united Church, the Body of Christ into a mighty endeavour and effort for the Lord. We must not neglect our responsibilities as Christians to help lead others towards the Lord, and we have to begin from ourselves, from how we live our own lives as Christians and from how we interact with those around us.

May the Risen Lord continue to be with us and guide us in all of our journey, our sufferings and trials, in everything that we do, so that by our every good efforts and works, we will always continue to be faithful and committed to His cause. Let us all proclaim Him ever more courageously through our own exemplary works and actions in each day, in doing our best for the greater glory of God, now and always. Amen.

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Thursday, 15 May 2025 : 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, 15 May 2025 : 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, 15 May 2025 : 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, 14 May 2025 : Feast of St. Matthias the Apostle (Homily and Scripture Reflections)

Liturgical Colour : Red

Dear brothers and sisters in Christ, today the Church celebrates the Feast of St. Matthias, one of the Twelve Apostles of the Lord, and the one who did not belong to the original Twelve that the Lord had chosen, but was added later on to replace Judas Iscariot the traitor, who had abandoned his position as one of the Twelve when he betrayed the Lord. St. Matthias was selected from among the Lord’s closest disciples, and he was called to serve the Lord as an Apostle, that is to be one of the important pillars of the Church, to spearhead the Church’s efforts at evangelisation and other missionary works and ministries, and therefore becoming for all of us a great role model and example in his faith, actions and works, for us to carry out in our own lives as Christians.

Let us all first begin by looking at our Scripture passages today, beginning with our first reading taken from the Acts of the Apostles, in which we heard of the actions of the Apostles led by St. Peter who told the assembly of the faithful that there was a need to elect someone to take over the place of the traitor Judas Iscariot as mentioned. Judas Iscariot had abandoned his calling and position as one of the Twelve by his betrayal of the Lord and by his refusal to repent and trust in God’s mercy, and instead having committed suicide out of sheer guilt. Therefore, in order to complete what the Lord had established with the Twelve Apostles, the number twelve being highly significant as representing the completeness of the twelve tribes of Israel, the twelve sons of Jacob.

And thus we heard how the Apostles and the other disciples of the Lord gathered together and prayed for the wisdom and inspiration of the Holy Spirit that one of them could be chosen to become the one to replace Judas Iscariot. That was how St. Matthias was elected by the will of God. St. Matthias bore the choice with faith and commitment, dedicating himself and his life to serve the Lord henceforth as an Apostle. According to Apostolic traditions, St. Matthias ministered firstly in Judea, to the people of Israelite descent, the Jewish people and others, and then he went on missionary journeys to different places, including Cappadocia in Asia Minor, in what is today part of Turkey, then the region around the Caspian Sea, and also Ethiopia in distant Africa.

In the different traditions, what St. Matthias encountered during his ministries were probably somewhat different, but what remains consistent was his dedication to the Lord and all the efforts which he had shown in proclaiming the Christian faith, the Good News of God and His salvation to many people throughout the many places that he had visited and ministered in. In some of those traditions, St. Matthias was martyred in the land of Ethiopia, or that he was stoned to death in Judea and Jerusalem by a mob against him, and yet another, more commonly accepted tradition was that St. Matthias was martyred in the region that is now part of the country of Georgia in the Caucasus Mountains. But regardless of the exact details and circumstances, what is truly very clear is that St. Matthias, like those other Apostles, devoted himself, his life, his works and efforts to the Lord so thoroughly.

Then, from our Gospel passage today, taken from the Gospel according to St. John the Apostle and Evangelist, we heard of the Lord highlighting to His disciples the important commandments that all of the people of God ought to follow and obey, and in those two main commandments lie the entire crux of the whole Law of God, the Law which God has given to all of us His people to guide us in our path and actions in life, in leading all of us back to Himself, by teaching us all about love, how we ought to love God first and foremost above all else, and then equally importantly, show that same love towards our fellow brothers and sisters, and to everyone around us, to all those whom we encounter in life. We cannot be true and genuine disciples and followers of the Lord unless we show this love in our lives, in each and every moments.

First of all, it is right and just that we should love the Lord our God first and foremost before all else, for without God we are nothing and we cannot exist without God’s grace. And not only that, but the Lord has also loved us all Himself with such great love and compassion that He showed us His generous love even to us sinners, who are truly undeserving of His love. We have disobeyed Him and rebelled against Him, and by doing this we have not been embracing the love that God has for us, and yet, God still loves us all anyway. He could have destroyed us from the beginning for our wickedness, disobedience and insolence, and yet, He chose to extend towards us His love and His merciful compassionate love. He loved us all even when we were still sinners, and desires for us to be truly reconciled and reunited with Him.

This is why we should love the Lord, our most loving God. For when others may fail us in love, but God never fails in loving us, and we can always trust and have faith in His love. But at the same time, while we love the Lord wholeheartedly we must also not forget the Lord’s second commandment that we ought to love our fellow brothers and sisters around us. As it is indeed possible for someone to love the Lord so much but ends up neglecting to love those who are around them, especially those who have been entrusted to them to love, and this is contrary to what the Lord has commanded to us to do. For us to be true and genuine Christians, we must always be filled with love, for God and for our fellow brothers and sisters alike.

Therefore, as we reflect upon the life, work and ministry of St. Matthias the Apostle, the courage and faith he has shown in ministering to the people of God and the determination he had in proclaiming the Good News of God to more and more people, let us all be inspired by his examples as our role model in faith and life, so that we may also carry out our lives in the manner that is truly worthy of being Christians. We are all called to continue the good works of the Apostles, which they had begun for the benefit and salvation of so many souls in this world, and which is still far from over. We have been given various missions and responsibilities, the various vocations that we have been called into in our world today. Let us all embrace them faithfully and courageously and do our best so that we may bear rich fruits of our faith and actions in this world, for the greater glory of God.

May the Lord be with us always and may He strengthen each and every one of us in our resolve so that we may continue to grow ever stronger in faith and commitment to God, and in doing whatever is right and just according to God’s will. May God bless our every good works and endeavours, now and always. Amen.

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Wednesday, 14 May 2025 : Feast of St. Matthias the Apostle (Gospel Reading)

Liturgical Colour : Red

John 15 : 9-17

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. 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.”