Liturgical Colour : White

Dear brothers and sisters in Christ, as we all listened in our Scripture passages today and as we all continue to progress through this joyful season of Easter, we are constantly being reminded again and again of the important responsibilities that we have as Christians in proclaiming the truth of the Risen Lord, of everything that He has taught and revealed to us. We should always put our trust in the Lord Who has overcome and conquered death itself, and which even false accusations and persecutions could not keep His truth from being revealed and shown to the world. All of us should never turn away from God, Who is indeed our Way, Truth and Life, the path through Whom we can reach the salvation and grace of God. Without His guidance and constant presence in our life, we may end up being lost and trapped in the darkness and temptations all around us.

In our first reading today, we heard from the Acts of the Apostles in which we heard the continuation of the words that St. Paul the Apostle spoke during his time in the city of Antioch in Pisidia in Asia Minor, where he visited the local synagogue and the Jewish diaspora community there. There he spoke to them with the encouraging words highlighting how God had been with His people, showing them all His care and love throughout history, guiding and strengthening them in their journey and never leaving them behind all alone. And St. Paul spoke of how all the promises and the words of the Lord had been perfectly completed and fulfilled through the coming of His Son, His own only Begotten Son, Whom He had sent into the world to be the Saviour of all, just as He had promised.

And in today’s passage, St. Paul spoke of how this same Saviour had been persecuted, rejected and oppressed by the same people that He had been sent to, with the chief priests and the Pharisees all accusing Him of false accusations and blasphemy, eventually leading to Him being handed over to the Romans to be crucified and killed. And yet, St. Paul also testified that the Lord has conquered and overcome death itself, and by taking upon Himself all the burdens of our sins, the punishments and all the things meant for us to suffer, so that by His loving sacrifice, He can bring us all into salvation and the guarantee of new and eternal life with Him. The Apostle courageously spoke up about this before the assembly at the synagogue knowing that some if not many among the Jewish people there were still opposed to the Lord and His teachings.

But St. Paul did not let all those fears and concerns trouble him as he trusted completely and wholeheartedly in the Lord, allowing Him to guide him in his steps, in his words and journey, proclaiming courageously the words of truth and encouragement, the wisdom of God and the Holy Spirit to reveal the knowledge and truth of God to those who have not yet known Him and to all those who were still resisting this truth. St. Paul did all these knowing that his efforts were not in vain, and he did all for the salvation of souls, hoping that at least some among those to whom he had spoken would be willing to listen to the truth and Good News of God’s salvation, and it is this attitude that we should also have in our own lives, in how we should be evangelising and missionary in each and every moments of our lives.

Then from our Gospel passage today, we heard of the account from the Gospel according to St. John the Apostle and Evangelist in which the Lord was reassuring His disciples and followers, telling them that as long as they trust in Him and believe in whatever that He had told them, they would not be shaken and they would enjoy the fullness of all of His promises, of eternal life and true happiness with God. This must be understood within the context of how the Lord revealed to them that He would soon suffer persecution and have to leave them for His heavenly place, to prepare for their places in Heaven, and all these would indeed come true with the Passion and suffering of the Lord, betrayed by His own disciple and then after He had died, He would rise from the dead and then ascended in glory into Heaven.

Everything did indeed happen according to what the Lord had said would happen, but of course at the time when the Lord predicted these things, no one would have known what would transpire, and the disciples were understandably confused and unsure, with St. Thomas, the Apostle who was known for his lack of faith and for being very cynical during his days of following Jesus, said cynically on how they would not know where to go if the Lord did not tell them where He was going, as He was being rather mysterious and vague in His words and explanations. But the Lord reassured him and the others, saying that He is indeed the Way, the Truth and the Life, and that there is no other way to the Heavenly Father except that going through Him, and therefore, they all should always trust and follow Him regardless of what they would be facing in their journey.

Brothers and sisters in Christ, let us all therefore do our best so that in everything that we do, we will always put our faith and trust in God, doing whatever we can in order to follow Him and do our part in proclaiming His truth and Good News in our world today. Let us all be exemplary in our lives, in each and every moments that we live, so that by our every actions, words and deeds, and through every interactions we carry out to our fellow brothers and sisters, all of us may be truly blessed by God, strengthened and empowered, in doing all the things that we do daily in life, and in our encounters with our fellow brethren around us. We should always be the courageous and worthy bearers of our Christian faith, doing our best to glorify Him by our lives.

May the Risen Lord continue to guide and strengthen us in our journey through life, and may He continue to empower each and every one of us to be His ever courageous and dedicated disciples and followers, in doing our part to proclaim His truth and teachings to the whole world. Let us trust in Him, our Way, our Truth and our Life, so that like St. Paul and the other Apostles and holy saints before us, we may always be faithful and dedicated to the service of God, at all times, for the good and salvation of souls. Amen.