Martyrs

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Monday, 12 May 2025 : 4th Week of Easter, Memorial of St. Nereus and St. Achilleus, Martyrs, and St. Pancras, Martyr (Homily and Scripture Reflections)

Liturgical Colour : White or Red (Martyrs)

Dear brothers and sisters in Christ, on this day as we continue to progress through this joyful time and season of Easter, listening to the words of the Sacred Scriptures, we are constantly being reminded of God’s wonderful love and kindness to all of us His beloved people. We are reminded that all of us, regardless of our background and origin, all of us are equally beloved and precious to God, Who has willingly loved us all, given us His attention and time, His ever present concern and care for all of us, His beloved children and people. Therefore, that is why He has always shown us His patient guidance and leading us all tirelessly towards Him, as our most loving and patient Shepherd, the Good Shepherd Who knows all of His sheep and flock by name, Who truly cares and loves for all of us without any exception.

In our first reading today, taken from the Acts of the Apostles, we heard of the story of how there were some disagreements between the early Christians in the community in Jerusalem and Judea, as some of them belonged to the group of the Pharisees, the ones who were particularly rigid and strict in how they observed the Law of God, and who were also often prejudiced and judgmental against the non-Jewish people or the Gentiles, seeing themselves being the direct descendants of Abraham and the Israelites to be superior to that of the other people. As such, because of the disagreements and divisions, which saw the Pharisees accusing those who mingled and interacted with the Gentiles as being mistaken and sinful, thus St. Peter told them all about the moment when he received a vision from God while he was at Joppa, in the land of the Gentiles.

In that vision which St. Peter received, shortly before he met and encountered a family of believers from among the Gentiles, likely influential Romans named Cornelius, St. Peter saw all sorts of animals which the Jewish laws and customs considered as unclean and impure, and which therefore should be avoided. However, he heard the Lord asking him to eat from those unclean animals, which St. Peter hesitated, and the same thing happened three times, as the Lord told him that what He deemed as clean, he should not deem as unclean. This, together with the encounter with Cornelius and his family which happened immediately afterwards served as an example which St. Peter presented to the assembly of the faithful that everyone are truly equal before God, without the need for distinction and prejudice between the Jews and the Gentiles.

This is why as Christians, it is important that we must not be prejudiced or judgmental against anyone, or adopt an attitude that is elitist and exclusivist in nature, thinking that we are somehow superior and better than others around us simply because we are the chosen people of God or because we have known the faith ahead of others. We must not be proud or arrogant because of this, but rather, we have to be like the Lord Himself, Who has loved each and every one of us equally, even the greatest sinners in our midst. God has always loved us and He does not want any one of us to be lost to Him, and that was why He has always kept the doors of His mercy and compassionate love open for us, reaching out to us through various means in calling us to return to Him, and we ourselves therefore should follow in His examples in how we help our fellow brethren around us.

Then, from our Gospel passage today, we heard of the account of the Gospel of St. John the Apostle and Evangelist about the Lord referring to Himself as the Good Shepherd, the One Whom God had sent into this world to gather all of His scattered children and people, who have been lost to Him due to the sins we have committed, the darkness of evil and all the distractions and temptations of the world which had kept us away from the Lord and His love. The Lord referred to Himself as the Good Shepherd because He truly knows us all as His sheep, many of whom have been lost to Him, and which He patiently guided towards Him. The Lord also referred to Himself as the Gate of the sheep, and His sheep recognised Him, and would not respond to those false shepherds and all those who did not truly care for the well-being of the sheep and the flock.

This reminds us again of the great love of God that He has shown to all of us, in His patient and ever enduring love that He has generously poured out on us, His disciples and followers. He has reached out to us and tried to find us in places where we have been lost at, all those places where darkness had misled us to, the forces of evil and sin misleading and coercing us into, that we become lost from our Lord’s loving and tender care. But God did not give up on us and He still constantly sought us out, reaching out to us and tirelessly trying to be reconciled and reunited with us, giving us so many opportunities for us to return to Him by various means. And we should not take this great and most generous love and compassion from the Lord for granted.

Today, the Church also celebrates the Feast of several saints, holy men and servants of God, whose lives and dedication to God can serve as good inspiration and role models for us all as Christians in our own lives in this world. They are St. Nereus and St. Achilleus, who were martyred during the early decades of Christianity, being the eunuchs and chamberlains of a niece of the Roman Emperor Domitian, who was well-known for his intense persecution of Christians. According to the Church tradition, they accompanied this niece of the Emperor, named Flavia Domitilla, who became a Christian, and altogether they were martyred for their faith after they were sent into exile. Meanwhile, St. Pancras, also known as St. Pancratius, was a young Christian man who was beheaded for his persistent faith in God during the terrible years of the intense Diocletianic Persecution.

We can see how from the examples of these great martyrs of the faith, that they had dedicated themselves to God and loved Him to the point of suffering even martyrdom for their faith in Him. They should inspire us all to be good and worthy role models for our fellow brethren, imitating the examples of Our Lord and Good Shepherd, Jesus Christ Himself. Let us all hence strive to do our best in each and every moments of our lives so that our lives, our every actions and words, our deeds and interactions may truly bear witness to the Lord, showcasing His love, truth, hope and Good News to everyone whom we encounter daily in life. May our lives be truly full of the love of our loving Good Shepherd, so that by our generous love, everyone may know God through us, and share in the same love that He has given us. Amen.

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Monday, 12 May 2025 : 4th Week of Easter, Memorial of St. Nereus and St. Achilleus, Martyrs, and St. Pancras, Martyr (Gospel Reading)

Liturgical Colour : White or Red (Martyrs)

John 10 : 1-10

At that time, Jesus said to His disciples, “Truly, I say to you, anyone who does not enter the sheepfold by the gate, but climbs in some other way, is a thief and a robber. But the shepherd of the sheep enters by the gate. The keeper opens the gate to him and the sheep hear his voice; he calls each of his sheep by name and leads them out.”

“When he has brought out all his own, he goes before them, and the sheep follow him for they know his voice. A stranger they will not follow, but rather they will run away from him, because they do not recognise a stranger’s voice.” Jesus used this comparison, but they did not understand what He was saying to them.

So Jesus said, “Truly, I say to you, I am the Gate of the sheep. All who came were thieves and robbers, and the sheep did not hear them. I am the Gate. Whoever enters through Me will be saved; he will go in and out freely and find food. The thief comes to steal and kill and destroy, but I have come that they may have life, life in all its fullness.”

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Monday, 12 May 2025 : 4th Week of Easter, Memorial of St. Nereus and St. Achilleus, Martyrs, and St. Pancras, Martyr (Psalm)

Liturgical Colour : White or Red (Martyrs)

Psalm 41 : 2-3 and Psalm 42 : 3, 4

As a deer longs for flowing streams, so my soul longs for You, o God.

My soul thirsts for God, for the living God. When shall I go and see the face of God?

Send forth Your light and Your truth; let them be my guide, let them take me to Your holy mountain, to the place where You reside.

Then will I go to the Altar of God, to God, my gladness and delight. I will praise You with the lyre an harp, o God, my God.

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Monday, 12 May 2025 : 4th Week of Easter, Memorial of St. Nereus and St. Achilleus, Martyrs, and St. Pancras, Martyr (First Reading)

Liturgical Colour : White or Red (Martyrs)

Acts 11 : 1-18

News came to the Apostles and the brothers and sisters in Judea that even foreigners had received the Word of God. So, when Peter went up to Jerusalem, these Jewish believers began to argue with him, “You went to the home of uncircumcised people and ate with them!”

So Peter began to give them the facts as they had happened, “I was at prayer in the city of Joppa when, in a trance, I saw a vision. Something like a large sheet came down from the sky and drew near to me, landing on the ground by its four corners. As I stared at it, I saw four-legged creatures of the earth, wild beasts and reptiles, and birds of the sky.”

“Then I heard a voice saying to me : ‘Get up, Peter, kill and eat!’ I replied, ‘Certainly not, Lord! No common or unclean creature has ever entered my mouth.’ A second time the voice from the heavens spoke, ‘What God has made clean, you must not call unclean.’ This happened three times, and then it was all drawn up into the sky. At that moment three men, who had been sent to me from Caesarea, arrived at the house where we were staying.”

“The Spirit instructed me to go with them without hesitation; so these six brothers came along with me and we entered into the man’s house. He told us how he had seen an Angel standing in his house and telling him : ‘Send someone to Joppa and fetch Simon, also known as Peter. He will bring you a message by which you and all your household will be saved.”

“I had begun to address them when suddenly the Holy Spirit came upon them, just as it had come upon us at the beginning. Then I remembered what the Lord had said : ‘John baptised with water, but you shall be baptised with the Holy Spirit.’ If, then, God had given them the same gift that He had given us when we believed in the Lord Jesus Christ, who was I to resist God?”

When they heard this they set their minds at rest and praised God saying, “Then God has granted life-giving repentance to the pagan nations as well.”

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Saturday, 3 May 2025 : Feast of St. Philip and St. James, Apostles (Homily and Scripture Reflections)

Liturgical Colour : Red

Dear brothers and sisters in Christ, today the Church celebrates not just one but two of the great Apostles of the Lord, two of the Twelve Apostles that the Lord had chosen to be His principal disciples and followers, the ones who belonged to His inner circle, those whom He had called and chosen to be the ones to continue to lead His works and all that He had entrusted to His Church. They are St. Philip and also St. James, the latter of which should not be confused with St. James the brother of St. John. The St. James that we are celebrating today is also known as St. James the Less, who was mentioned as such likely because of his smaller posture and not because of lesser in importance. Both of these great servants of God dedicated their lives to the Lord and did their best to carry out the missions entrusted to them.

First of all, let us look through our Scripture passages today before we delve into the lives and works of those two great Apostles. In our first reading today, taken from the Epistle of St. Paul to the Church and the faithful people of God in the region of Corinth, we heard of the testimony of faith by St. Paul himself who exhorted the people of God to share the faith which they have in God so that many more people may come to believe in Him as well, just as he shared how he himself had received the faith through encounter with the Lord and the other Apostles. Through what we have heard today in this passage from the Epistle to the Corinthians we are reminded that we should always be ready to proclaim our faith wherever we are and to whoever it is that we encounter in life.

Then, from our Gospel passage today taken from the Gospel according to St. John the Apostle and Evangelist. In that account we heard the Lord Jesus interacting with His disciples who listened to Him teaching to them, and that was where St. Philip, whom we celebrate today, asked Him after He said that He is the Way, the Truth and the Life, for Him to show them the Father. The Lord then told the disciples that whenever they see Him, they had truly seen and known the Father, highlighting the special relationship between Him as the Son and the Heavenly Father. The Lord told them that since He came from the Father, and that He is indeed co-equal and co-eternal, consubstantial with the Father, therefore His Presence in their midst indeed shows the loving Presence of the Father, the Creator Lord Himself.

And this is why the Apostles, having witnessed the Lord Himself, being presented to them in the flesh, approachable and tangible to them, and having listened to the words and teachings of the Lord, the many miracles and signs that He has performed before them, they truly believed and had firm faith in the Lord. This firm and strong faith was what they passed on to the others around them, proclaiming the Risen Lord and His truth and Good News, touching the lives and hearts of many people, calling them to conversion and to follow the Lord wholeheartedly. This faith is what we have ourselves received through the Church, having been passed down to us through the many generations of Christians, many of whom have suffered and faced challenges and difficulties in living their faith in God.

For St. Philip and St. James themselves, they had devoted their lives in ministering to the people of God and to proclaim the Gospel of Christ to more and more people who have not yet heard of the Good News of God. St. Philip went to the region of Syria, Phrygia and Greece together with other Apostles like St. Bartholomew. St. Philip according to one Apostolic tradition was martyred together with St. Bartholomew in the city known as Hierapolis. It was told that through his preaching about the Lord and miracles that he performed, he converted the wife of the city’s pro-consul who was therefore enraged and ordered the Apostles to be arrested, persecuted and eventually martyred by crucifixion. But St. Philip remained firm in his faith to the very end, suffering martyrdom for the glory of God.

Meanwhile, St. James the Apostle, also known as St. James the Less was associated with other St. James the relative of Jesus and St. James, son of Alphaeus. The former was the first Bishop of Jerusalem, ministering to the faithful people of God in Jerusalem and Judea, while the other St. James also took part in missionary activities to the people in various places like that of St. Philip. Eventually, despite the relative lack of detailed evidence and historiography on these Apostles, what is certain is such that those holy servants of God gave their all in serving God, and they suffered persecutions and hardships from all those who hardened their hearts and closed the doors of their minds and hearts against the truth and Good News of God. St. James, like that of St. Philip also faced similar trials and sufferings. But both of them remained strong and courageous amidst the persecutions and kept their faith in the Lord.

Brothers and sisters in Christ, therefore, as we all reflect upon these words of the Scriptures and upon the lives of the Holy Apostles, St. Philip and St. James, who have dedicated themselves so wonderfully to the Lord and His cause, let us all also follow in their examples in how we ourselves should live faithful and committed lives as Christians, in loving God and in loving those whom we love and everyone else around us. We are the ones to continue the good works that the Apostles had started and there are indeed still a lot of areas where our contributions are important and needed. We must remember that our actions and efforts are part of the larger works and efforts of the Church, and hence we should be active in living our lives faithfully and contributing actively to the good of the Church, to the works of charity and evangelisation, among others.

May the glorious Risen Lord continue to be with us all, His faithful ones just as He has always guided His faithful servants, especially St. Philip and St. James, Holy Apostles, whose lives and works we remember today. May He continue to bless us in our every good works, our deeds and actions so that by our every endeavours, our dedication and commitment to Him, we may truly glorify Him and proclaim Him to our world today. Holy Apostles, St. Philip and St. James, pray for us all always. Amen.

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Saturday, 3 May 2025 : Feast of St. Philip and St. James, Apostles (Gospel Reading)

Liturgical Colour : Red

John 14 : 6-14

At that time, Jesus said to His disciples, “I am the Way, the Truth and the Life; no one comes to the Father but through Me. If you know Me, you will know the Father also; indeed you know Him, and you have seen Him.”

Philip asked Him, “Lord, show us the Father, and that is enough.” Jesus said to him, “What! I have been with you so long and you still do not know Me, Philip? Whoever sees Me sees the Father; how can you say, ‘Show us the Father’? Do you not believe that I am in the Father and the Father is in Me?”

“All that I say to you, I do not say of Myself. The Father Who dwells in Me is doing His own work. Believe Me when I say that I am in the Father and the Father is in Me; at least believe it on the evidence of these works that I do. Truly, I say to you, the one who believes in Me will do the same works that I do; and he will even do greater than these, for I am going to the Father.”

“Everything you ask in My Name, I will do, so that the Father may be glorified in the Son. Indeed, anything you ask, calling upon My Name, I will do.”

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Saturday, 3 May 2025 : Feast of St. Philip and St. James, Apostles (Psalm)

Liturgical Colour : Red

Psalm 18 : 2-3, 4-5

The heavens declare the glory of God; the firmament proclaims the work of His hands. Day talks it over with day; night hands on the knowledge to night.

No speech, no words, no voice is heard – but the call goes on throughout the universe, the message is felt to the ends of the earth.

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Saturday, 3 May 2025 : Feast of St. Philip and St. James, Apostles (First Reading)

Liturgical Colour : Red

1 Corinthians 15 : 1-8

Let me remind you, brothers and sisters, of the Good News that I preached to you and which you received and on which you stand firm. By that Gospel you are saved, provided that you hold to it as I preached it. Otherwise, you will have believed in vain.

In the first place, I have passed on to you what I myself received that Christ died for our sins, as Scripture says; that He was buried; that He was raised on the third day, according to the Scriptures; that He appeared to Cephas and then to the Twelve. Afterwards He appeared to more than five hundred brothers and sisters together; most of them are still alive, although some have already gone to rest.

Then He appeared to James and after that to all the Apostles. And last of all, He appeared to the most despicable of them, this is to me.

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Monday, 28 April 2025 : 2nd Week of Easter, Memorial of St. Peter Chanel, Priest and Martyr, and St. Louis Marie Grignion de Montfort, Priest (Homily and Scripture Reflections)

Liturgical Colour : White or Red (Martyrs)

Dear brothers and sisters in Christ, as we listened to the words of the Sacred Scripture today we are all reminded that as Christians, as God’s holy and beloved people, we should always strive to take refuge in God and to believe wholeheartedly in Him. All of us should remember how in this world we often face a lot of challenges and hardships, trials and difficulties in living our lives faithfully as the disciples and followers of God. Yet, we must not lose faith in Him and we should continue to dedicate ourselves wholeheartedly to the Lord for it is in Him alone that we have the sure hope of salvation and true satisfaction, fulfilment and liberation from all the darkness around us that have kept us chained and shackled from true freedom that can be found in God alone.

In our first reading today, taken from the Acts of the Apostles, we heard of the moment when the two Apostles, St. Peter and St. John, was released from the custody and incarceration by the Sanhedrin or the Jewish High Council after they performed a miracle at the gate of the Temple of Jerusalem. They also spoke courageously among the people of God about the Messiah, Jesus Christ, Who had just risen from the dead. Such things had been expressly forbidden by the Jewish elders and leaders, as they did not want the disciples to be preaching, teaching or performing miracles in the Name of Jesus, Whom the Sanhedrin had labelled as a False Messiah and blasphemer, and which by their actions and machinations had managed to condemn to death through the Romans, only for Him to rise gloriously from the dead on the third day after, and continuing His works through His disciples.

But despite the many threats and oppositions against them, the two Apostles, St. Peter and St. John did not let those to deter them from doing what the Lord had entrusted to them. They stood courageously before the whole Sanhedrin and spoke fearlessly in the truth of the Risen Lord, and as we heard in our first reading passage, they went forth free and back to the Christian community with the great joy and courage from the Lord, as they strengthened each other and prayed for God’s guidance and protection, for His providence and the strength to persevere through the many challenges and difficulties that had surrounded them, to persevere against the oppressions and difficulties which they had faced as God’s people, in being oppressed for their faith in the Lord and His truth. The Apostles prayed as a reminder to all of the people of God, and hence to all of us that we are all not alone in our struggles in this world as God’s followers and disciples.

Then, from our Gospel passage today, we listened from the Gospel according to St. John the Apostle and Evangelist in which the interaction between the Lord Jesus and Nicodemus was recounted to us, where Nicodemus, a member of the Pharisee and the Sanhedrin, one of the few that were favourable and friendly to the Lord, came to the Lord at night in order to avoid being found out by the other Pharisees and Sanhedrin member. And Nicodemus asked the Lord with regards to His teachings and what He had brought into the midst of the people of God. The Lord told him about the matter of being ‘born again in the Spirit’ which confused Nicodemus at first because he was thinking of the natural birth that every humans went through, and how could man be born again in that manner. But the Lord was truly speaking about the rebirth that all the people of God experienced when they received the grace of the Sacrament of Baptism.

Yes, brothers and sisters in Christ, all of us who have been baptised in the Lord and become members of His Church have truly been born again in the Spirit, and have received the grace of God in us, and therefore, by this great gift of grace and salvation from God, all of us are reminded to remain firm in our faith in God and not to be easily swayed and tempted by the ways of the world around us. We should not give in to the pressures and the threats of the world around us to conform to worldly ways and attachments. Instead, we should always strive to live lives that are truly worthy of God, doing our very best to be good and worthy role models for our fellow brothers and sisters around us, and also for all those whom we encounter daily in life, in our workplaces and others. This is how we proclaim the Risen Lord and His truth to the world, just as He has commanded us to do.

Today, the Church celebrates the Feast of St. Peter Chanel, and also St. Louis Marie Grignion de Montfort, and both of these holy men of God lived their lives in the manner that were truly extraordinary, in their dedication to God and to the people of God. St. Peter Chanel was a French priest and missionary who received the calling to become a missionary, proclaiming God’s Word and Good News to the people in distant lands after having read the inspiring stories shared by the letters sent by the missionaries working in America, in the New World among the natives there. St. Peter Chanel joined the seminary and was eventually ordained as a priest, becoming a missionary just as he has always wished. Initially however, he was assigned a role as a parish priest in France, which he did wonderfully before he was able to go for his mission.

Then, St. Peter Chanel eventually joined the missionary Society of Mary, where he was sent with some other missionaries to the region of southwestern Pacific, where after a very long journey from France, eventually reached Tahiti, then Tonga and Futuna. It was at Futuna where St. Peter Chanel would carry out the rest of his mission, as he preached to the local people. And when quite a number of the locals began to embrace the Catholic faith, including that of Futuna’s king’s son, therefore the initially warm welcome the king extended to St. Peter Chanel and the other missionaries became hostile, and it ended up with St. Peter Chanel being martyred by the king’s son-in-law and others who were hostile to the Christian faith.

Meanwhile, St. Louis Marie Grignion de Montfort was another renowned French priest who was particularly noted for his great influence and writings on Mariology, emphasising a lot on various Marian devotions and practices as ways for the faithful to reach the Lord. Like St. Peter Chanel, he was also inspired since his youth to be a missionary, and for him, he was called to minister to the poor and the less fortunate, and after having joined the seminary, with his great devotion to Mary in particular, St. Louis Marie Grignion de Montfort grew in his faith and experience, eventually becoming a great priest and preacher, spending many years proclaiming the Word of God and the Good News to the people around him and in all the regions where he ministered in. He worked tirelessly for many years until he passed away after intense sixteen years of service to the Lord as a priest.

Therefore, brothers and sisters in Christ, let us all hence be truly faithful Christians in all the things that we say and do, and follow in the footsteps of our holy predecessors, particularly that of St. Peter Chanel and St. Louis Marie Grignion de Montfort. We do not have to go far or do what they themselves had done, as each one of us were called by the Lord in our own unique ways, with the various gifts and talents that He had provided and presented to us. Let us all be the shining beacons of Christ’s Light and truth, the hope and the salvation that He has presented to the world and to all the people, and let us all, in our own small little ways in life, in our actions and deeds, in our every words and interactions, be good role models and examples for one another, now and always. Amen.

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Monday, 28 April 2025 : 2nd Week of Easter, Memorial of St. Peter Chanel, Priest and Martyr, and St. Louis Marie Grignion de Montfort, Priest (Gospel Reading)

Liturgical Colour : White or Red (Martyrs)

John 3 : 1-8

At that time, among the Pharisees there was a ruler of the Jews named Nicodemus. He came to Jesus by night and said, “Rabbi, we know that You have come from God to teach us, for no one can perform miraculous signs like Yours unless God is with Him.”

Jesus replied, “Truly, I say to you, no one can see the kingdom of God unless he is born again from above.” Nicodemus said, “How can there be rebirth for a grown man? Who could go back to his mother’s womb and be born again?” Jesus replied, “Truly, I say to you : No one can enter the kingdom of God without being born of water and Spirit. What is born of the flesh is flesh, and what is born of the Spirit is spirit.”

“Because of this, do not be surprised when I say, ‘You must be born again from above.’ The wind blows where it pleases and you hear its sound, but you do not know where it comes from or where it is going. It is like that with everyone who is born of the Spirit.”