Liturgical Colour : White

Dear brothers and sisters in Christ, today as we listened to the words of the Lord contained within the passages of the Sacred Scriptures, we are reminded that we should continue to have hope in the Lord, believing that in His Providence, His presence and help, we will always find hope and strength, as well as the sure path out of our predicaments and sufferings, all the hardships and challenges that we have had to endure in our lives. We must never allow ourselves to be easily swayed and pressured by fear, indecision and doubt. We must continue to hold up firmly that faith in the Lord, that we should always have in our hearts and minds. That is why we are all called to reflect upon this hope which He has placed in us, so that we may continue to faithfully serve Him at all times.

In our first reading today, we heard from the Acts of the Apostles of the continuation of the account of the works of the Apostles in the ministry of the proclaiming of the Good News of God among the people, calling more and more towards the Lord and to His salvation. And even in the midst of their predicament and hardships, the Apostles continued to receive guidance, strength and encouragement from the Lord. God did not abandon those whom He had called and chosen to be His own, and He heard the prayers of those who have fervently prayed to Him and kept their faith in Him. We heard how a great earthquake struck when St. Paul and the other faithful disciples of the Lord were put in incarceration, and they were miraculously freed.

But what was even more wonderful was the fact that the Lord did not in fact just free St. Paul and the other disciples from their bondage and imprisonment, but He also made it such that the jailor and his family were also freed from their own bondage and slavery to sin, as St. Paul convinced the jailor not to take his own life out of guilt, but rather to put his trust in the Lord, and which led therefore to his conversion together with that of his own family members. Therefore, God did not just bring His servants to their safety, but was even adding to their numbers in such moments of darkness and suffering. All of these serve to remind us ever more of God’s greatness and His wonderful grace towards us, in how He has constantly and patiently guided us in our journey through faith and life.

Then, from our Gospel passage today, we heard from the Gospel according to St. John the Apostle and Evangelist, in which the Lord Jesus continued to speak to His disciples about what would happen to Him at the moment surrounding His Passion, His suffering and death on the Cross, all of which would soon happen, and He told these all to the disciples so that they would not fall into despair and fear, and that they would continue to put their trust and faith in Him even in difficult times. And as He had shared with the disciples in today’s passage, that everything had to happen as according to the will of the Father in Heaven, Who would send to them all the Helper or the Advocate, which refers to the Holy Spirit, the Spirit of God that would strengthen all of the followers of the Lord.

And the Lord told them all that everything had to happen as it had been planned by God, or else, the Holy Spirit would not come into this world as He should have. Through the Holy Spirit that eventually came upon all the disciples, guiding the Church of God, the Lord would do wonderful things for His people, growing the reach of His works to the whole world through the works of evangelisation and mission, as the disciples of the Lord courageously went forth to proclaim the Good News and the truth about God and His salvation, strengthened and encouraged by the Holy Spirit, sent unto them by the Lord Himself, dwelling in their hearts. Through the tireless effoorts and works of these dedicated missionaries and many other holy and faithful people of God, countless people and souls have been saved from eternal damnation and brought into the light of God’s salvation.

Today, the Church also marks the occasion of the Feast of St. Augustine of Canterbu ry, the very first bishop of the restored Church hierarchy and structure in England, after the turmoil and destruction of the previous two centuries when civil upheavals and problems led to the loss of contact between the Church in England and that in the rest of the Christendom at the time. After the downfall of the Roman Empire in the Western Europe, as well as the invasion of England by the pagan Anglo-Saxons, the state of the Church in the formerly Christian England was dire, but this did not lead to total destruction of the Christian faith in the region as many still held onto their faith in God despite being separated from the hierarchy and administration of the Church.

And most importantly, at that time, Pope St. Gregory the Great initiated important efforts to reevangelise the many areas that had fallen back to paganism and where the faith had floundered, sending among others, St. Augustine of Canterbury to be the Papal representative and missionary in England. It was at Canterbury in southeastern England where he ministered and worked patiently for the Lord’s sake, eventually leading to the conversion of many to the Lord, and beginning a great period of rejuvenation of the Christian faith there, that in the end brought back the whole England to the faith, as the Anglo-Saxons eventually completely and entirely adopted the Christian faith and were baptised in the Lord. Thanks to the courageous and tireless efforts of St. Augustine of Canterbury and the many other missionaries, all these good things happened.

Brothers and sisters in Christ, as we have heard today from our Scripture passages and also from the life and works of St. Augustine of Canterbury among others, let us all therefore be evangelising and missionary in our own actions, words and all the things that we do in our respective lives daily, in each and every moments, and in all of our encounters with those whom we meet in our lives. Let us all therefore be the faithful and worthy beacons of God’s light and truth, His Good News, love and hope to everyone around us. May the Lord bless our every good efforts, works and endeavours, and bring us all to be the great examples to all the people, now and always. Amen.