Liturgical Colour : White

Dear brothers and sisters in Christ, today as we all listened to the words of the Sacred Scriptures, and as we continue to progress through this joyful time and season of Easter, we are all reminded of the need for all of us to continue proclaiming and revealing the truth of God to our fellow brothers and sisters around us, as part of our Christian calling and mission, in whatever way and areas that we have been entrusted and called to, in our various vocations in life as parts and members of God’s Church. We must always do the works of the Lord which we have been given, to the best of our abilities so that hopefully through our labours and works, many people may come to the salvation in God through us. As Christians, all of us should be the reflection of God’s light and hope, His hope and compassion, at all times.

In our first reading today, we heard from the Acts of the Apostles where St. Paul and St. Barnabas were ministering to the people in the region of Pisidia, where St. Paul had earlier on spoken in the local synagogue to the members of the Jewish diaspora community. St. Paul and St. Barnabas reached out to the members of the non-Jewish people or the Gentiles because many among the Jews themselves were unwilling to listen to what they had brought to them, and some of them sided with the Pharisees on their opposition against the ways and teachings of Jesus, that is the Christian faith. But St. Paul and St. Barnabas continued God’s works and chose to minister to the Gentiles, some of whom were willing to accept God’s words and truth, and as we heard, some among the Gentiles believed in God because of this.

Of course as we have also heard, that St. Paul and St. Barnabas did not have it easy, as they had to face opposition from those who were annoyed at their works, from some among the Jewish community and from others that were against their evangelisation mission. And we heard how due to the plotting of their enemies, the ruckus and problems caused, St. Paul and St. Barnabas were forced to leave the region. Yet, their presence and works there were not in vain, as they had indeed managed to plant the seeds of faith among the people, both among the Jews and the Gentiles alike. And this would become the foundation of the Church and the community of the faithful in those areas in the future, as how it had happened in the places where the Apostles had encountered more successes too.

This is a reminder for all of us, once again, that God’s grace and salvation, His favour and blessings are given freely and generously to everyone, regardless whatever background or origins one may have, or whatever race or identity one belongs to. All of us mankind are truly beloved by God, Who has always loved us all from the very beginning, from when He created us, each and every one of us. After all, God did not create us only to destroy us afterwards, because He created us all out of love and also He wants us all to share in His love. Hence, that was why through His Son and through the Apostles and their successors, the Lord has reached out to us in this manner, that is to call us back to His Presence and to live wonderfully in our faith in God.

In our Gospel passage today from the Gospel of St. John the Apostle and Evangelist, as we heard the interaction between the Lord and His disciples, with Him telling the disciples of the relationship that He, as the Son, had with His heavenly Father, all of us are reminded of the love of God that had been manifested in our midst through the incarnation of the Son of God in the flesh, Christ Himself Who made God’s love to become tangible, approachable and real before all of us. And the Lord Jesus as the obedient Son has come into this world to carry out everything that the Father had told Him to do, to bring all of the scattered people of God and to gather them all, bringing them once again into God’s Holy Presence and making them to be part of the same one flock of the Lord, the Church of God.

Through His obedience and commitment to His mission, all of us are reminded again today of the love which our God, our most loving Father and Creator has for us all. We are reminded just how loving He has been towards us that He extends His love through His Son so that He can reach out to us, loving us and showing us His compassion, soothing us and reassuring us of His company and presence even in the most difficult moments in our lives. And because of this, we should always strive and endeavour to love God first and foremost in our lives, to obey Him and to do His will at all times. We must not allow ourselves to be swayed easily by the many temptations present all around us, which may distract us from our attention and focus towards God.

Brothers and sisters in Christ, let us all therefore reflect upon what we have just heard from our Scripture passages today, reminding ourselves of the important responsibilities and opportunities that God had provided to all of us as Christians, that is as those whom He had called and chosen to be His own, to be the ones He sent into this world so that more and more people may come to know Him, to know of His love and truth. We should embrace what the Lord has entrusted to us and realise that our every efforts and contributions are important, as although our efforts may seem to be small and insignificant, but when all of these are combined together, plus the ripple effect of our good efforts may have, all these will amount to a huge impact on the world and everyone around us.

May the Risen Lord, our Saviour and King, continue to strengthen us all each day and help us so that we may continue to persevere through the many challenges, trials and hardships that we may encounter daily in life so that we do not end up easily giving up our faith in the Lord, and that we will always remain faithful in God no matter what happens. Let us all be good role models and inspirations, examples and guides for each other in faith, in how we live our lives each day and every moment. May God bless us in all of our good efforts, works and endeavours, now and always. Amen.