Christian Unity

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Saturday, 25 January 2025 : Feast of the Conversion of St. Paul the Apostle, Week of Prayer for Christian Unity (Homily and Scripture Reflections)

Liturgical Colour : White

Dear brothers and sisters in Christ, today the Church marks the occasion of the Feast of the Conversion of St. Paul the Apostle, marking the moment when the once hostile and fervent anti-Christian young Jew and Pharisee named Saul turned over a new leaf completely in his life, becoming then the courageous defender of the Christian faith, changing his name into Paul as the sign of this conversion and embarking into a new life and mission blessed by God. And this day all of us are reminded not to give up hope in the Lord because in Him alone lies our salvation and hope, and He has generously showed us all His love and grace, His persistent care and compassion towards all of us, and His desire to be reunited with us. God has always called us all to holiness, and He provided us with the sure path through His Son, Our Lord and Saviour.

In our first reading today, we heard the story of the conversion of St. Paul himself, highlighting to us the moment when as mentioned, Saul the Pharisee encountered the Lord and was converted to the true faith. Up to that moment Saul had always been a very energetic and fanatical Pharisee who had been very active in persecuting the early Christians, arresting many of them throughout Jerusalem, Judea and other regions, and he was also present at the time of the martyrdom of St. Stephen, the very first martyr of the Church. Essentially he was a great enemy of the Church and the early Christian believers. And that mistaken zeal was what drove the young Saul to seek permission from the Jewish leaders to go to Damascus to continue rooting out the early Christians and persecuting them for their faith in the Lord.

But as we all know, God had a very different plan for Saul. As we heard from the account from the Acts of the Apostles, Saul had an encounter with the Lord Jesus Himself Who appeared to Him on the way to Damascus, and Who revealed Himself and His truth to the misguided and overzealous young man. It was thus the beginning of the conversion journey of Saul, who met Ananias, one of the Lord’s disciples who was in Damascus, and it was Ananias who baptised Saul and gave him the first teachings and truth of the Christian beliefs, opening the eyes of Saul to what the truth about Jesus Christ, the Saviour has brought into this world, which he and many other Pharisees, clouded by pride, greed and ego, and by falsehoods, refused to believe and ended up persecuting.

Saul therefore completely changed his ways, so much so that many people were astonished by the change, both those Pharisees who once persecuted Christians with him and also the persecuted Christians themselves. But Saul continued to grow in wisdom and power of the Lord through the Holy Spirit, and he took upon the new name of Paul to signify this conversion and change, much as how in the Scriptures, people had their names change to indicate significant events in their lives. From a great enemy and persecutor of Christians, St. Paul became the great champion of the Christian faith, dedicating and committing himself to the cause of the Lord, proclaiming the truth of God faithfully wherever he went, labouring hard for the Lord’s sake and enduring a lot of hardships and persecutions that he himself once inflicted upon the Christians.

The story of the conversion of St. Paul the Apostle is truly a very amazing story of hope and change which all of us should be inspired by. The great examples shown by St. Paul the Apostle and his dedication to the Lord after having committed great mistakes and harm to the Church earlier in his life is one of the story of hope reminding us that there is no one excluded by the Lord and that each and every one of have the same opportunity and chance which God Himself has provided most generously to us because He wants us all to be saved and redeemed through Him, and no longer be lost because of our sins and disobedience against Him. If even a great sinner and someone who had once committed grievous sins and acts that endangered many of the early Christians like St. Paul could become a great servant of God and exemplary follower of the Lord, then who we are to say that we cannot do the same as well?

In our Gospel passage today from the Gospel according to St. Mark the Evangelist, we heard the words of the Lord Jesus to His disciples in which He commanded all of them to go forth and spread throughout the world, proclaiming His Good News and salvation, all of which He has promised to us through the same Jesus Christ, the Saviour of all. This commissioning took place after the Lord has suffered and died on His Cross, and then risen gloriously from death. It is the mission which the Lord has entrusted to all of us as His disciples, to be the bearers of the Good News of His triumphant victory over sin and death, over the chains of evil and the dominion of Satan, all those things that had prevented us from coming towards the Lord and His salvation, His grace and love.

Each and every one of us have been given such great grace from God and we should indeed be thankful for everything that He had done for us. He has loved us so dearly and patiently even when we have often rebelled against Him and disobeyed Him, resolving to forgive us all and continuing to open the path of redemption to all of us. That was what St. Paul had accepted, the generous offer of mercy and forgiveness, and he showed us all that all saints were sinners just like us too, but what matters is that they all changed their ways and abandoned their past sins, corruptions and all the things which had kept them from truly being able to live their lives faithfully as God’s holy servants and people. They cast aside the temptations and false pleasures of the world, putting their faith and trust fully in God, becoming great role models and inspirations for us to follow.

Brothers and sisters in Christ, are we willing and able to commit ourselves henceforth to the Lord like how St. Paul and many other saints had done? Are we willing and able to reject the temptations of the evil one, all the pleasures and allures of worldly glory, ambition, corruptions and all the things that often distract us from the right path towards the Lord? God has given us all the freedom to choose our path in life, and we need to make the conscious effort to firmly reject all those that can bring us away into the path towards our downfall and destruction. This is why we should always put the Lord at the centre of everything that we believe in, and make Him to be the reason and the focus of everything that we say and do. We should not allow anything to keep us away from God and His truth, His love and Presence. Every one of us as sinners still have path path forward, and that is through God’s love, compassion and mercy.

Let us all continue to live our lives to the fullest in faith, committing ourselves each and every moments to walk ever down this path that God has shown us, and be the good and worthy disciples and followers of the Lord, the shining beacons of His truth, His Good News and love in this world. May the Lord be with us all and may He continue to help and guide us so that we may continue to be led towards Him and that we will not lose our paths and bearings in life, continuing to trust in God’s love and mercy, now and always, ever proclaiming that love and mercy to the whole world. Amen.

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Saturday, 25 January 2025 : Feast of the Conversion of St. Paul the Apostle, Week of Prayer for Christian Unity (Gospel Reading)

Liturgical Colour : White

Mark 16 : 15-18

At that time, Jesus told His disciples, “Go out to the whole world and proclaim the Good News to all creation. The one who believes and is baptised will be saved; the one who refuses to believe will be condemned.”

“Signs like these will accompany those who have believed : in My Name they will cast out demons and speak new languages; they will pick up snakes, and if they drink anything poisonous, they will be unharmed; they will lay their hands on the sick, and they will be healed.”

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Saturday, 25 January 2025 : Feast of the Conversion of St. Paul the Apostle, Week of Prayer for Christian Unity (Psalm)

Liturgical Colour : White

Psalm 116 : 1, 2

Alleluia! Praise YHVH, all you nations; all you peoples, praise Him.

How great is His love for us! His faithfulness lasts forever.

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Saturday, 25 January 2025 : Feast of the Conversion of St. Paul the Apostle, Week of Prayer for Christian Unity (First Reading)

Liturgical Colour : White

Acts 22 : 3-16

Paul spoke to the Jews in Jerusalem, “I am a Jew, born in Tarsus in Cilicia, but brought up here, in this city, where I was educated in the school of Gamaliel, according to the strict observance of our law. And I was dedicated to God’s service, as are all of you today. As for this Way, I persecuted it to the point of death and arrested its followers, both men and women, throwing them into prison.”

“The High Priest and the whole Council of elders can bear witness to this. From them, I received letters for the Jewish brothers in Damascus; and I set out to arrest those who were there, and bring them back to Jerusalem for punishment. But, as I was travelling along, nearing Damascus, at about noon, a great light from the sky suddenly flashed about me.”

“I fell to the ground and heard a voice saying to me : ‘Saul, Saul, why do you persecute Me?’ I answered, ‘Who are You, Lord?’ And He said to me : ‘I am Jesus, the Nazorean, Whom you persecute.’ The men who were with me saw the light, but they did not understand the voice of the One Who was speaking to me. I asked : ‘What shall I do, Lord?’”

“And the Lord replied : ‘Get up and go to Damascus; there, you will be told all that you are destined to do.’ Yet, the brightness of that light had blinded me; and so, I was led by the hand into Damascus by my companions. There, a certain Ananias came to me. He was a devout observer of the law, and well spoken of by all the Jews who were living there.”

“As he stood by me, he said : ‘Brother Saul, recover your sight.’ At that moment, I could see; and I looked at him. He, then, said, ‘The God of our ancestors has chosen you to know His will, to see the Just One, and to hear the words from His mouth. From now on, you shall be His witness before all the pagan people, and tell them all that you have seen and heard.’”

“‘And now, why delay? Get up and be baptised, and have your sins washed away, by calling upon His Name.’”

Alternative reading

Acts 9 : 1-22

Meanwhile, Saul considered nothing but violence and death for the disciples of the Lord. He went to the High Priest and asked him for letters to the synagogues of Damascus that would authorise him to arrest and bring to Jerusalem, anyone he might find, man or woman, belonging to the Way.

As he travelled along and was approaching Damascus, a light from the sky suddenly flashed around him. He fell to the ground and heard a voice saying to him, “Saul, Saul! Why do you persecute Me?” And he asked, “Who are You, Lord?” The voice replied, “I am Jesus, Whom you persecute. Now, get up, and go into the city; there, you will be told what you are to do.”

The men who were travelling with him stood there speechless : they had heard the sound, but could see no one. Saul got up from the ground and, opening his eyes, he could not see. They took him by the hand and brought him to Damascus. He was blind; and he did not eat or drink for three days.

There was a disciple in Damascus named Ananias, to whom the Lord called in a vision, “Ananias!” He answered, “Here I am, Lord!” Then the Lord said to him, “Go, at once, to Straight Street and ask, at the house of Judas, for a man of Tarsus named Saul. You will find him praying, for he has just seen in a vision that a man named Ananias has come in and placed his hands upon him, to restore his sight.”

Ananias answered, “Lord, I have heard from many sources about this man, and all the harm he has done to Your saints in Jerusalem; and now, he is here, with authority from the High Priest, to arrest all who call upon Your Name.”

But the Lord said to him, “Go! This man is My chosen instrument, to bring My Name to the pagan nations and their kings, and the people of Israel as well. I, Myself, will show him how much he will have to suffer for My Name.”

So Ananias left and went to the house. He laid his hands upon Saul and said, “Saul, my brother, the Lord Jesus, Who appeared to you on your way here, has sent me to you, so that you may receive your sight, and be filled with the Holy Spirit.” Immediately, something like scales fell from his eyes and he could see; he got up and was baptised. Then he took food and was strengthened.

For several days Saul stayed with the disciples at Damascus, and he soon began to proclaim in the synagogues that Jesus was the Son of God. All who heard were astonished and said, “Is this not the one who cast out, in Jerusalem, all those calling upon this Name? Did he not come here, to bring them bound before the chief priests?”

But Saul grew more and more powerful; and he confounded the Jews living in Damascus when he proved that Jesus was the Messiah.

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Friday, 24 January 2025 : 2nd Week of Ordinary Time, Memorial of St. Francis de Sales, Bishop and Doctor of the Church, Week of Prayer for Christian Unity (Homily and Scripture Reflections)

Liturgical Colour : White

Dear brothers and sisters in Christ, today as we all listened to the words of the Lord contained within the Sacred Scriptures, we are all reminded of the calling that each and every one of us have as Christians, that is as those who believe in the Lord Jesus Christ as our Lord, Saviour and King, that we must always proclaim Him in all of our words, actions and deeds, in every interactions that we have with our fellow brothers and sisters around us. Each and every one of us as the members of the Church of God are partakers of the Covenant which God has made with us all through His Son, and we are the ones to be His witnesses and missionaries to the people of every nations, to all those whom we encounter in our lives each day. We are all called to be the role models and inspirations for one another in faith.

In our first reading today, taken from the continuation of the Epistle to the Hebrews, we continue to hear again the focus and emphasis by the author of this Epistle on the role that Our Lord Jesus Christ, the Mediator of the New Covenant between God and mankind had taken in the fulfilment of everything that God has promised to us. The author emphasised in the parts of the Epistle that we heard today on the New and Eternal Covenant which God has made with His people, mediated by none other than His own Beloved Son, sent into the world to be the Mediator of this New Covenant. Through Christ, our Lord and Saviour, God sealed and established this firm and everlasting promise, and guaranteed for all those who have faithfully committed themselves to His path, the fullness of His grace, love and blessings.

This Covenant is one that surpasses all the other prior covenants and contracts between God and His people. While the previous covenants had been broken and had to be constantly renewed because of the disobedience of God’s people, symbolised and shown by the frequent regular offerings of sin offerings and sacrifices at the Temple of God, the One, True and Eternal Covenant which the Lord has brought upon us and sealed with none other than His own Precious Blood, through His Passion, His suffering and death on the Cross, by which He has established and made firm this Covenant, which is not just merely an empty promise or assurance without fulfilment. God Himself showed His faithfulness through action, and the Cross of Christ, with our Lord shown hanging on it, is a constant reminder of the price that our Lord has paid for us.

This is something which the author of the Epistle to the Hebrews wanted to highlight to the Jewish community, many of whom have not yet believed in the Lord and refused to listen to His truth, or doubt the authenticity of His teachings and works, as through Christ, there is no more need for anymore sacrifices and offerings, all which have been replaced by the one sacrifice that Christ has made on our behalf, to atone for all the multitudes of our many and innumerable sins and faults, once and for all. This was also an explanation of the sufferings which the Lord had endured on His Cross, which to those who did not understand the significance, might seem like a defeat or humiliation. On the contrary, it was through this suffering and death that the Lord has established His New and Eternal Covenant.

Then, in our Gospel passage today, we heard from the Gospel according to St. Mark the Evangelist in which the account of the Lord calling His disciples, those twelve principal followers He had chosen, was highlighted to us. Through these disciples, the Lord extended His works and ministry, sending them all out on missions to proclaim His Good News, to heal the sick and to carry out the works that He Himself wanted to do among us. And this is also a reminder for all of us that as Christians, we are all also expected to be the ones to deliver this truth and Good News to everyone around us. Through us and our faithful witnesses, our testimony of faith we may lead more and more people into this Covenant that God has made with us all, and which He has offered freely and generously by His love.

Each and every one of us as Christians must always be active in proclaiming the Good News of God, not only through words but also through actions. It means that in each and every moments of our lives, even in the smallest of things that we say and do, and even in the seemingly least significant things, we should always strive to live worthily as those who believe in the Lord, to be exemplary in all of our actions and interactions with one another. God has indeed made His everlasting Covenant with us, but many still remain unaware of this Covenant and the love that God has for us all. And it is truly up to us all as Christians, as the disciples and followers of the Lord to be the ones to proclaim this truth and salvation to all.

Today, the Church also celebrates the Feast of St. Francis de Sales, one of the renowned saints of the Church, a great and holy bishop who was dedicated in his mission and service to God and to the people of God. He was someone who was truly missionary in his life, works and ministry, approaching others with gentleness and love, and not with coercion and force. He was involved deeply in the efforts of Counter-Reformation where his efforts and hard work brought back many thousands, tens of thousands and more back to the true faith in God. He did not do so by being forceful or haughty and assertive, but rather through genuine discussion, journeying with one another and engaging in dialogue. And even with these, he still faced a lot of struggles and opposition from those who refused to listen to him and the truth of God.

St. Francis de Sales ministered to the people of God throughout the areas affected by the Protestant reformation, and eventually became the Bishop of Geneva in what is today Switzerland, which at that time was greatly affected by the reformation. He continued to minister to the faithful and also to everyone who refused to believe in the Catholic truth and faith. At the same time he continued to inspire many through his preaching and great personal holiness and piety. He was well-known for his words, ‘Those who preached with love, preached effectively’, showing great love and care for everyone whom he encountered throughout his missions and works, all the way to the end of his life after many years being spent in ministry to the people of God and glorifying God.

Brothers and sisters in Christ, let us all therefore do our best to follow the good examples showed to us by St. Francis de Sales and ultimately, by the Lord Himself. Through their love and compassionate care, they have become great inspiration and role model for all of us as Christians, in how we all should devote ourselves to the Lord and in how we should act in doing God’s will at all times. Let us all as Christians, as God’s holy and beloved people, be filled with the courage and strong desire to love the Lord and to commit ourselves to Him, to be the shining beacons of God’s love, truth and Good News to everyone around us. May God bless each one of us, now and always. Amen.

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Friday, 24 January 2025 : 2nd Week of Ordinary Time, Memorial of St. Francis de Sales, Bishop and Doctor of the Church, Week of Prayer for Christian Unity (Gospel Reading)

Liturgical Colour : White

Mark 3 : 13-19

At that time, Jesus went up into the hill country, and called those He wanted and they came to Him. He appointed twelve to be with Him, and He called them ‘Apostles’. He wanted to send them out to preach, and He gave them authority to drive out demons.

These are the Twelve : Simon, to whom He gave the name Peter; James, son of Zebedee, and John his brother, to whom He gave the name Boanerges, which means ‘men of thunder’; Andrew, Philip, Bartholomew, Matthew, Thomas, James son of Alpheus, Thaddeus, Simon the Canaanean, and Judas Iscariot, the one who betrayed Him.

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Friday, 24 January 2025 : 2nd Week of Ordinary Time, Memorial of St. Francis de Sales, Bishop and Doctor of the Church, Week of Prayer for Christian Unity (Psalm)

Liturgical Colour : White

Psalm 84 : 8 and 10, 11-12, 13-14

Show us, o Lord, Your unfailing love and grant us Your saving help. Yet Your salvation is near to those who fear You, and Your Glory will dwell in our land.

Love and faithfulness have met; righteousness and peace have embraced. Faithfulness will reach up from the earth while justice bends down from heaven.

The Lord will give what is good, and our land will yield its fruit. Justice will go before Him, and peace will follow along His path.

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Friday, 24 January 2025 : 2nd Week of Ordinary Time, Memorial of St. Francis de Sales, Bishop and Doctor of the Church, Week of Prayer for Christian Unity (First Reading)

Liturgical Colour : White

Hebrews 8 : 6-13

Now, however, Jesus enjoys a much higher ministry in being the Mediator of a better covenant, founded on better promises. If all had been perfect in the first covenant, there would have been no need for another one. Yet God sees defects when He says : The days are coming – it is the word of the Lord – when I will draw up a new covenant with the people of Israel and with the people of Judah.

It will not be like the covenant that I made with their ancestors on the day I took them by the hand and led them out of Egypt. They did not keep My covenant, and so I Myself have forsaken them, says the Lord. But this is the covenant that I will make with the people of Israel in the days to come : I will put My law into their minds and write them on their hearts. I will be their God and they will be My people.

None of them will have to teach one another or say to each other : Know the Lord, for they will know Me from the least to the greatest. I will forgive their sins and no longer remember their wrongs. Here we are being told of a new covenant; which means that the first one had become obsolete, and what is obsolete and ageing is soon to disappear.

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Thursday, 23 January 2025 : 2nd Week of Ordinary Time, Week of Prayer for Christian Unity (Homily and Scripture Reflections)

Liturgical Colour : Green

Dear brothers and sisters in Christ, as we heard from our Scripture passages today, today as we all heard again from the readings of the Sacred Scriptures and we continue on the discourse about the identity of Jesus Christ as the High Priest of all and the Son of God, all the miracles and wonders that He has performed among the people, we are all reminded about Who it is that we believe in, in our faith and belief as Christians so that we all may know how we may share about Him to all others whom we encounter in our respective daily lives. If we do not even know the Lord, or understand His role and mission in what He had done for our sake, then how can we be effective and good missionaries and evangelisers in our world today?

In our first reading today, we continue to hear from the Epistle to the Hebrews the discourse about the truth and identity of Jesus Christ, the Saviour of the world and the Messiah which the Jewish people had long awaited for. If yesterday we heard the author speaking about Melchizedek and his connections and associations to Christ, then today we again explore the role of Jesus Christ our Lord as our One, True and Eternal High Priest, as the One through Whom all of us have received the assurance of salvation because He has broken the chains and dominion of sin and death that once had control over all of us. This was particularly directed to the Jewish people in order to explain to them why there was no more need for them to offer sacrifices anymore as they had been mandated by the Law.

The author explained that all the sacrifices which the people had offered up to that time were all temporary and reflections of the one true Sacrifice and Offering which the Lord Jesus, as the High Priest offered once and for all for everyone. It was also highlighted how the High Priest and the other priests had to offer sacrifices in atonement for their own sins first before offering the sacrifice for the people, and they also offered the sacrifices and blood of lambs, goats and others that could not atone for the multitudes of sins of so many. And in contrast, Jesus Christ, the One, True and Eternal High Priest had no need to offer sacrifices for Himself because He Himself is without any sin or blemish, perfect in all things beyond comparison.

More importantly, what He offered was none other than His own Self, His own Most Precious Body and Blood as the Son of God and Son of Man, as well as the Paschal Lamb of sacrifice, offered as the only worthy offering worth all of the multitudes of the innumerable sins, faults and mistakes of all mankind from the very beginning of time, from the time of Adam and Eve right up to the very end of time. His incarnation into this world made possible the perfection of God and His Divinity to transcend our human nature and make Himself that perfect offering and sacrifice on our behalf. And the Lord Jesus truly did suffer most grievously for our sake, as He willingly bore the great and unimaginable weight of the Cross upon His shoulder, and as the scourges were brought upon Him, nails piercing through His Body, broken and His Blood outpoured for us.

As the perfect and most unblemished sacrifice, Our Lord as the Lamb of God offered for us all His own Most Precious Body and Blood for our salvation, and He did it once and for all on Calvary, on His Cross, which is the Altar of His Sacrifice. And by His great grace, He has also extended this same Sacrifice to each and every one of us through the authority and power that He has given to His Church through His disciples. It is one of the core tenets of our Christian faith that we believe in the Real Presence of the Lord in the Eucharist, the dogma on Transubstantiation. What we all believe is that during each and every celebrations of the Holy Mass, more appropriately known as the Holy Sacrifice of the Mass, the same Sacrifice of Our Lord at Calvary, our One, True and Eternal High Priest has been brought to us, transcending time and space.

Each and every one of our priests have all received this same power and authority, that at the moment of the Consecration of the bread and wine, those are turned completely and utterly into the substance and essence of the Lord, the Lamb of God, Who takes away the sins of the world. That is what we all believe in, and we truly believe in the Lord our God Who has manifested Himself in the flesh, so that He could be with us, making Himself approachable and reachable by us, no longer separated by the veil and chasm of sin and death. This is what we have heard in our Gospel passage today as well, as we heard how the Lord has gone among His people, ministering to them, healing their sick and casting out evil spirits from those who have been afflicted, among other things that He had done.

All these showed us once again of the most generous and wonderful love of God made clear and tangible for us through His Son, Our Lord and Saviour. As Christians, it is therefore very important that we must always be grateful of everything that God has done for us, in all the sufferings and the sacrifices He had made for our sake. It is sad to know that quite a few Christians do not truly recognise and appreciate the Lord for what He had done for us, when as our Gospel passage today mentioned, that even evil spirits proclaimed Him as the Holy One of God. Have we made the Lord to be the very centre and focus of our lives? Or have we instead allowed the many temptations around us, our many pursuits for power and glory to distract us away from God and His salvation?

Let us all remind ourselves of these things as we continue to move forward in life, making good use of the time and opportunities which have been presented to us. Let us no longer take God’s love for granted, but do our best from now on to do His will wholeheartedly, to love Him with all of our might and strength from now on, as we all should do. May the Lord be with us always, and may He continue to bestow His blessings and love on us, so that we may also be truly loving in all of our words, actions and deeds. Amen.

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Thursday, 23 January 2025 : 2nd Week of Ordinary Time, Week of Prayer for Christian Unity (Gospel Reading)

Liturgical Colour : Green

Mark 3 : 7-12

At that time, Jesus and His disciples withdrew to the lakeside, and a large crowd from Galilee followed Him. A great number of people also came from Judea, Jerusalem, Idumea, Transjordan, and from the region of Tyre and Sidon, for they had heard of all that He was doing.

Because of the crowd, Jesus told His disciples to have a boat ready for Him, to prevent the people from crushing Him. He healed so many, that all who had diseases kept pressing towards Him to touch Him. Even the people who had evil spirits, whenever they saw Him, they would fall down before Him and cry out, “You are the Son of God.” But He warned them sternly not to tell anyone Who He was.