Easter 2025

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Wednesday, 4 June 2025 : 7th Week of Easter (Gospel Reading)

Liturgical Colour : White

John 17 : 11b-19

At that time, Jesus prayed to God His Father, “Holy Father, keep those You have given Me in Your Name, so that they may be one, as we also are. When I was with them, I kept them safe in Your Name; and not one was lost, except the one who was already lost, and in this, the Scripture was fulfilled. And now I come to You; in the world I speak these things, so that those whom You gave Me, might have joy – all My joy within themselves.”

“I have given them Your word; and the world has hated them, because they are not of the world, just as I am not of the world, I do not ask You to remove them from the world, but to keep them from the evil one. They are not of the world, just as I am not of the world. Consecrate them in the truth. Your word is truth.”

“I have sent them into the world as You sent Me into the world; and for their sake, I go to the sacrifice by which I am consecrated, so that they too may be consecrated in truth.”

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Wednesday, 4 June 2025 : 7th Week of Easter (Psalm)

Liturgical Colour : White

Psalm 67 : 29-30, 33-35a, 35bc and 36c

Summon Your power, o God, with the strength You have wielded for us. To Your Temple in Jerusalem, kings will come with gifts.

Sing to God, o kingdoms of the world; sing praises to the Lord, to Him Who rides the ancient heavens, and speaks in the voice of thunder. Proclaim the might of God.

He is great in Israel, powerful in heavens. Blessed be God!

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Wednesday, 4 June 2025 : 7th Week of Easter (First Reading)

Liturgical Colour : White

Acts 20 : 28-38

Keep watch over yourselves, and over the whole flock the Holy Spirit has placed into your care. Shepherd the Church of the Lord that He has won, at the price of His own Blood. I know that, after I leave, ruthless wolves will come among you and not spare the flock. And, from among you, some will arise, corrupting the truth, and inducing the disciples to follow them.

Be on the watch, therefore, remembering that, for three years, night and day, I did not cease to warn everyone, even with tears. Now, I commend you to God, and to His grace-filled word, which is able to make you grow and gain the inheritance that you shall share with all the saints.

I have not looked for anyone’s silver, gold or clothing. You, yourselves, know, that these hands of mine have provided for both my needs and the needs of those who were with me. In every way, I have shown you that by working hard one must help the weak, remembering the words that the Lord Jesus Himself said, “Happiness lies more in giving than in receiving.”

After this discourse, Paul knelt down with them and prayed. Then, they all began to weep and threw their arms around him and kissed him. They were deeply distressed because he had said that they would never see him again. And they went with him even to the ship.

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Tuesday, 3 June 2025 : 7th Week of Easter, Memorial of St. Charles Lwanga and Companions, Martyrs (Homily and Scripture Reflections)

Liturgical Colour : Red

Dear brothers and sisters in Christ, today as we all listened to the words of the Lord through the Sacred Scriptures we are reminded of the need for all of us to continue to have faith in God and to put our trust and faith in Him, dedicating our efforts and attention towards Him, even in our most difficult and darkest moments. We must always have hope in the Lord, believing that with His light, hope and encouragement, with His guidance and strength, all of us can overcome the many challenges, trials and difficulties that we have to face in our journey each and every day. We should not turn away from the Lord when things does not go according to our plans, but instead we should listen to the Lord speaking to us and guiding us in our path, so that we may find the best way that the Lord wants to guide us through in our lives.

In our first reading today, we heard of the time when St. Paul the Apostle went to Ephesus during one of his last missionary journeys, and at that time he was heading towards Jerusalem from his ministry throughout various cities and places across the Mediterranean. St. Paul was responding to the Lord’s call, as He sent him to the last mission of his life, to go and face the members of the Sanhedrin in Jerusalem that sought to prosecute him for his beliefs and works in propagating Christ’s truth and Good News among the people of God. He could have chosen to remain far from Jerusalem and avoid prosecution and avoid facing his opponents, but he entrusted fully in God’s plan and providence, and listened to His words calling on him to follow Him wherever He would lead him to.

Therefore, fully knowing of what he would likely have to endure in that final part of his journey, all the persecutions, hardships and more that he might have to go through, St. Paul was making a farewell speech to the elders and the faithful people of God in Ephesus, telling them that the Lord has always been with him in all of his works and endeavours, and they should also continue to have faith in the Lord despite all the challenges, trials and difficulties that they may have to encounter in life because of their Christian faith. This is also therefore a reminder for all of us to keep our faith and trust in God despite the obstacles and hardships we may be facing, and to keep on that strong relationship and connection with God at all times.

Then from our Gospel passage today, taken from the Gospel according to St. John the Apostle and Evangelist, we heard of the prayer which the Lord Jesus made to His heavenly Father, asking Him to watch over His beloved disciples and followers at the time when many of them would be tested for their faith in Him, and would be scattered by what would soon happen to all of them. At that time, this prayer was made by the Lord just shortly before the commencement of His Passion, that is the moment of His ultimate suffering and leading to His death on the Cross. As we all know, when that happened, the Lord suffered greatly, betrayed by one of His own closest disciples, one of the Twelve, and all the other disciples were scattered when that happened, fearing for their lives and all.

Therefore, the Lord Jesus prayed for His disciples and followers, praying that the Father would strengthen each and every one of them in the upcoming struggles and hardships that they would all face, not only during the time and moment of His Passion, His suffering and death, but in fact also referring to what they all would have to suffer and face in continuing to do their works in ministering to the faithful and to the others, in their works of evangelisation and in their various ministries among the world. Just as the Lord Himself has been hated and persecuted by the world, therefore, the disciples would also face similar persecutions, rejections and hardships in their various journeys, and they would need the strength and courage from God to be able to continue onwards, and hence the Lord was praying for them.

That is why, brothers and sisters in Christ, it is important that we should also do the same in our own respective lives, that is in how we pray for our fellow brothers and sisters in faith, so that they may all be strengthened and encouraged despite the challenges, difficulties and obstacles that we may have to face in the midst of living our lives faithfully in God. We should also continue to show and give our support to everyone around us who are in need of our help and support. We should show the love of God generously to our brethren through our own love for one another, and this is indeed what we have been reminded to do each day as Christians, as those whom the Lord Himself has called and chosen to be His own people.

Today the Church also marks the occasion of the Feast of St. Charles Lwanga and Companions, who were martyred in what is today Uganda, also known as the Holy Martyrs of Uganda. St. Charles Lwanga was the chief of the royal pages of the Kingdom of Buganda, which today still exists as a major part of the country of Uganda. At that time most of the kingdom was still practicing pagan beliefs, and the king and his court were living in a state of great sin. But when the Christian missionaries came to Uganda and began proclaiming the Good News of Christ and the salvation in God, some among the people, including that of St. Charles Lwanga were touched by their message of hope and righteousness, and eventually chose to be baptised as Catholics.

However, the king of Buganda began to see the growing number of converts within his domain as a threat to his power and to the community, and hence, he began to carry out systematic persecutions against Christians in his kingdom. Many among the faithful, both the foreign missionaries and the local converts alike were persecuted and not few were martyred among the missionaries for their great zeal and commitment to God, and also among the local converts for refusing to recant and abandon their faith in God. St. Charles Lwanga protected some of those Christian converts using his position, and his examples touched many others who therefore also chose to accept the Lord as their Saviour as well. In the end, St. Charles Lwanga himself and several others were martyred by burning on a stake, at the site where now the great Basilica of the Holy Martyrs of Uganda in Namugongo is standing.

Brothers and sisters in Christ, through what we have heard and reflected from the passages of the Sacred Scriptures and from the life and examples of St. Charles Lwanga and his companions in martyrdom, the Holy Martyrs of Uganda, let us all therefore do our very best to be faithful and committed disciples of the Lord at all times, in doing His will and in being courageous and strong in proclaiming our faith and belief in the Lord in every opportunities. Let us all not be easily distracted or discouraged by the many pressures, temptations and other obstacles around us, but instead we should continue to commit ourselves to the Lord, doing our very best at glorifying Him by our lives and actions, in everything that we say and do, at all times. May the Lord be with us always, and may He strengthen our resolve to live our lives well in accordance to His will, to proclaim His truth and Good News to all the nations. Amen.

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Tuesday, 3 June 2025 : 7th Week of Easter, Memorial of St. Charles Lwanga and Companions, Martyrs (Gospel Reading)

Liturgical Colour : Red

John 17 : 1-11a

At that time, after Jesus said all that He had said to His disciples, He lifted up His eyes to heaven and said, “Father, the hour has come! Give glory to Your Son, that the Son may give glory to You. You have given Him power over all humanity, so that He may give eternal life to all those You entrusted to Him. For this is eternal life : to know You, the only true God, and the One You sent, Jesus Christ.”

“I have glorified You on earth and finished the work that You gave Me to do. Now, Father, give Me, in Your presence, the same glory I had with You before the world began. I have made Your Name known to those You gave Me from the world. They were Yours, and You gave them to Me, and they kept Your word. And now they know that whatever You entrusted to Me, is indeed from You.”

“I have given them the teaching I received from You, and they received it, and know in truth that I came from You; and they believe that You sent Me. I pray for them. I do not pray for the world, but for those who belong to You, and whom You have given to Me. Indeed all I have is Yours and all You have is Mine; and now they are My glory.”

“I am no longer in the world, but they are in the world, and I come to You.”

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Tuesday, 3 June 2025 : 7th Week of Easter, Memorial of St. Charles Lwanga and Companions, Martyrs (Psalm)

Liturgical Colour : Red

Psalm 67 : 10-11, 20-21

Then You gave a rain of blessings to comfort Your weary children. Your people found a dwelling and in Your mercy, o God, You provided for the needy.

Blessed be the Lord, God our Saviour, Who daily bears our burdens! Ours is a God Who saves; our Lord lets us escape from death.

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Tuesday, 3 June 2025 : 7th Week of Easter, Memorial of St. Charles Lwanga and Companions, Martyrs (First Reading)

Liturgical Colour : Red

Acts 20 : 17-27

From Miletus Paul sent word to Ephesus, summoning the elders of the Church. When they came to him, he addressed them, “You know how I lived among you from the first day I set foot in the province of Asia, how I served the Lord in humility through the sorrows and trials that the Jews caused me.”

“You know that I never held back from doing anything that could be useful for you; I spoke publicly and in your homes, and I urged Jews and non-Jews alike to turn to God and believe in our Lord Jesus.”

“But now I am going to Jerusalem, chained by the Spirit, without knowing what will happen to me there. Yet in every city the Holy Spirit warns me that imprisonment and troubles await me. Indeed I put no value on my life, if only I can finish my race and complete the service to which I have been assigned by the Lord Jesus, to announce the Good News of God’s grace.”

“I now feel sure that none of you among whom I have gone about proclaiming the kingdom of God will ever see me again. Therefore I declare to you this day that my conscience is clear with regard to all of you. For I have spared no effort in fully declaring to you God’s will.”

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Monday, 2 June 2025 : 7th Week of Easter, Memorial of St. Marcellinus and St. Peter, Martyrs (Homily and Scripture Reflections)

Liturgical Colour : White or Red (Martyrs)

Dear brothers and sisters in Christ, on this day we are reminded that we must have strong faith and trust in the Lord, believing in the great and ever enduring love which He has always had for us, without exception and without limit. God has indeed always loved us all so generously, without any conditions and without any boundaries. And we should indeed consider ourselves truly fortunate to have been beloved in such a manner, and to have the Lord by our side at all times. We must not lose faith in Him and we should always strive to be faithful because it is in Him alone that we can find true assurance and strength, consolation and freedom. There is nothing that is impossible for us as long as we continue to have faith in the Lord, entrusting ourselves to Him and His will.

In our first reading today, we heard from the Acts of the Apostles of the ministry and works of St. Paul the Apostle and his companions in the work of evangelisation, as they continued on their missionary journeys across the known world, spreading the Word of God and the Good News of His salvation to all the people of all the nations. St. Paul in particular was known for his great outreach to the Gentiles, or the non-Jewish people that he has always championed and sought to lead towards God despite the opposition and resistance from some of the more hardline ones among the early Christians, particularly those belonging to the Pharisees that joined the Church. St. Paul kept on ministering faithfully to the Gentiles, and as we heard in today’s reading, he achieved great success in them.

We heard how St. Paul went to Ephesus and found some disciples there that had been baptised according to the way that St. John the Baptist did it, likely due to the works of the disciples gathered by St. John the Baptist that went to the diaspora communities. However, they had not yet known of the fullness of truth and the teachings of Christ, which St. Paul therefore told to them, which eventually led to them agreeing to be baptised in the Name of the Lord, and we heard how they all received the Holy Spirit, and became the disciples of the Lord. And through this we know that God truly calls on all the people to become His disciples and followers, and His grace, blessings and inheritance are to be shared by everyone without exception.

Then, from our Gospel passage today, we heard of the words of the Lord to His disciples who commented that He had finally revealed to them in plain words Who He was and what He was doing, and then the Lord told them a premonition of what would soon happen, in how they would all lose faith in Him and be overcome with doubt at the moment when He was facing His Passion, when all of the disciples would abandon Him and choose to safeguard themselves. And yet, He also told them all that He Himself remained steadfast in His mission, as the Father was with Him regardless, and He also prayed for the disciples that they would also be strengthened in their faith, and that they would not lose their faith going forward.

This is an important reminder for all of us that as Christians, we are all likely to encounter and face challenges, trials and difficulties in our path forward, and we must not easily lose faith and trust in the Lord, as the Lord Himself will indeed always be with us, guiding and providing for us, ensuring that we are all taken care of, and that we will never have to face all the challenges alone by ourselves. We have to trust in the Lord and have faith in Him so that we do not end up being easily distracted and swayed by the many temptations and pressures found all around us in this world. We have to remain strong, firm and resolute in our faith and trust in God, no matter what circumstances, and we should always have that conviction to continue moving forward with God as our Guide, at all times.

Today, the Church also celebrates the feast of two great and holy martyrs of the Church, namely that of St. Marcellinus and St. Peter. Both of these holy servants of God were not known much beyond some hagiographical stories about them, but they were greatly venerated by many generations of Christians after their time, for their great faith and courage in defending their faith in God. According to that hagiographical story, St. Marcellinus was a priest while St. Peter was an exorcist who lived and ministered to the faithful people of God during the reign of the Roman Emperor Diocletian and his fellow co-Emperors. That time was a time of great challenge and difficulty for the Church of God, as intense persecutions against Christians was carried out by the state.

Many among the faithful people of God suffered, were arrested and tortured, and not few were martyred for their faith, including those of St. Marcellinus and St. Peter themselves. They refused to give up their faith in the Lord, and they continued to keep their trust in God to the very end, and they were executed for their Christian faith as example for many others. But the courageous examples that they had shown, together with the great inspirations they had made, the miracles associated to them strengthened many other fellow Christians both of their generations and those who came after them. And hopefully this also strengthens our own faith in the Lord, that we may not easily give up our own faith in the face of the many struggles and hardships we may have to face in our own paths and journeys towards God.

Therefore, brothers and sisters in Christ, let us all hence continue to be ever more faithful and dedicated in proclaiming the Word of God, His Good News and love to all those whom we encounter in this world, in each and every moments of our lives, inspired by the great examples of all those who have gone before us. Let us all not be discouraged by fear and doubt, but instead be strengthened ever more by our faith and trust in the Lord. Let us also encourage and strengthen one another as well, now and always. Amen.

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Monday, 2 June 2025 : 7th Week of Easter, Memorial of St. Marcellinus and St. Peter, Martyrs (Gospel Reading)

Liturgical Colour : White or Red (Martyrs)

John 16 : 29-33

At that time, the disciples said to Jesus, “Now You are speaking plainly and not in veiled language! Now we see that You know all things, even before we question You. Because of this we believe that You came from God.”

Jesus answered them, “You say that you believe? The hour is coming, indeed it has come, when you will be scattered, each one to his home, and you will leave Me alone. Yet I am not alone, for the Father is with Me. I have told you all this, so that in Me you may have peace. You will have trouble in the world; but courage! I have overcome the world.”

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Monday, 2 June 2025 : 7th Week of Easter, Memorial of St. Marcellinus and St. Peter, Martyrs (Psalm)

Liturgical Colour : White or Red (Martyrs)

Psalm 67 : 2-3, 4-5ac, 6-7ab

Arise, o God, scatter Your enemies; let Your foes flee before You. As smoke is blown by the wind, so blow them away; as wax melts before the fire, so let the wicked perish before You.

But let the righteous be glad and exult before God; let them sing to God and shout for joy. Sing to God, sing praises to His Name; the Lord is His Name. Rejoice in His presence.

Father of orphans and Protector of widows – such is our God is His holy dwelling. He gives shelter to the homeless, sets the prisoners free.