Saints

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Wednesday, 14 May 2025 : Feast of St. Matthias the Apostle (Homily and Scripture Reflections)

Liturgical Colour : Red

Dear brothers and sisters in Christ, today the Church celebrates the Feast of St. Matthias, one of the Twelve Apostles of the Lord, and the one who did not belong to the original Twelve that the Lord had chosen, but was added later on to replace Judas Iscariot the traitor, who had abandoned his position as one of the Twelve when he betrayed the Lord. St. Matthias was selected from among the Lord’s closest disciples, and he was called to serve the Lord as an Apostle, that is to be one of the important pillars of the Church, to spearhead the Church’s efforts at evangelisation and other missionary works and ministries, and therefore becoming for all of us a great role model and example in his faith, actions and works, for us to carry out in our own lives as Christians.

Let us all first begin by looking at our Scripture passages today, beginning with our first reading taken from the Acts of the Apostles, in which we heard of the actions of the Apostles led by St. Peter who told the assembly of the faithful that there was a need to elect someone to take over the place of the traitor Judas Iscariot as mentioned. Judas Iscariot had abandoned his calling and position as one of the Twelve by his betrayal of the Lord and by his refusal to repent and trust in God’s mercy, and instead having committed suicide out of sheer guilt. Therefore, in order to complete what the Lord had established with the Twelve Apostles, the number twelve being highly significant as representing the completeness of the twelve tribes of Israel, the twelve sons of Jacob.

And thus we heard how the Apostles and the other disciples of the Lord gathered together and prayed for the wisdom and inspiration of the Holy Spirit that one of them could be chosen to become the one to replace Judas Iscariot. That was how St. Matthias was elected by the will of God. St. Matthias bore the choice with faith and commitment, dedicating himself and his life to serve the Lord henceforth as an Apostle. According to Apostolic traditions, St. Matthias ministered firstly in Judea, to the people of Israelite descent, the Jewish people and others, and then he went on missionary journeys to different places, including Cappadocia in Asia Minor, in what is today part of Turkey, then the region around the Caspian Sea, and also Ethiopia in distant Africa.

In the different traditions, what St. Matthias encountered during his ministries were probably somewhat different, but what remains consistent was his dedication to the Lord and all the efforts which he had shown in proclaiming the Christian faith, the Good News of God and His salvation to many people throughout the many places that he had visited and ministered in. In some of those traditions, St. Matthias was martyred in the land of Ethiopia, or that he was stoned to death in Judea and Jerusalem by a mob against him, and yet another, more commonly accepted tradition was that St. Matthias was martyred in the region that is now part of the country of Georgia in the Caucasus Mountains. But regardless of the exact details and circumstances, what is truly very clear is that St. Matthias, like those other Apostles, devoted himself, his life, his works and efforts to the Lord so thoroughly.

Then, from our Gospel passage today, taken from the Gospel according to St. John the Apostle and Evangelist, we heard of the Lord highlighting to His disciples the important commandments that all of the people of God ought to follow and obey, and in those two main commandments lie the entire crux of the whole Law of God, the Law which God has given to all of us His people to guide us in our path and actions in life, in leading all of us back to Himself, by teaching us all about love, how we ought to love God first and foremost above all else, and then equally importantly, show that same love towards our fellow brothers and sisters, and to everyone around us, to all those whom we encounter in life. We cannot be true and genuine disciples and followers of the Lord unless we show this love in our lives, in each and every moments.

First of all, it is right and just that we should love the Lord our God first and foremost before all else, for without God we are nothing and we cannot exist without God’s grace. And not only that, but the Lord has also loved us all Himself with such great love and compassion that He showed us His generous love even to us sinners, who are truly undeserving of His love. We have disobeyed Him and rebelled against Him, and by doing this we have not been embracing the love that God has for us, and yet, God still loves us all anyway. He could have destroyed us from the beginning for our wickedness, disobedience and insolence, and yet, He chose to extend towards us His love and His merciful compassionate love. He loved us all even when we were still sinners, and desires for us to be truly reconciled and reunited with Him.

This is why we should love the Lord, our most loving God. For when others may fail us in love, but God never fails in loving us, and we can always trust and have faith in His love. But at the same time, while we love the Lord wholeheartedly we must also not forget the Lord’s second commandment that we ought to love our fellow brothers and sisters around us. As it is indeed possible for someone to love the Lord so much but ends up neglecting to love those who are around them, especially those who have been entrusted to them to love, and this is contrary to what the Lord has commanded to us to do. For us to be true and genuine Christians, we must always be filled with love, for God and for our fellow brothers and sisters alike.

Therefore, as we reflect upon the life, work and ministry of St. Matthias the Apostle, the courage and faith he has shown in ministering to the people of God and the determination he had in proclaiming the Good News of God to more and more people, let us all be inspired by his examples as our role model in faith and life, so that we may also carry out our lives in the manner that is truly worthy of being Christians. We are all called to continue the good works of the Apostles, which they had begun for the benefit and salvation of so many souls in this world, and which is still far from over. We have been given various missions and responsibilities, the various vocations that we have been called into in our world today. Let us all embrace them faithfully and courageously and do our best so that we may bear rich fruits of our faith and actions in this world, for the greater glory of God.

May the Lord be with us always and may He strengthen each and every one of us in our resolve so that we may continue to grow ever stronger in faith and commitment to God, and in doing whatever is right and just according to God’s will. May God bless our every good works and endeavours, now and always. Amen.

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Wednesday, 14 May 2025 : Feast of St. Matthias the Apostle (Gospel Reading)

Liturgical Colour : Red

John 15 : 9-17

At that time, Jesus said to His disciples, “As the Father has loved Me, so I have loved you. Remain in My love! You will remain in My love if you keep My commandments, just as I have kept My Father’s commandments and remain in His love.”

“I have told you all this, that My own joy may be in you, and your joy may be complete. This is My commandment : Love one another as I have loved you! There is no greater love than this, to give one’s life for one’s friends; and you are My friends, if you do what I command you.”

“I shall not call you servants any more, because servants do not know what their master is about. Instead, I have called you friends, since I have made known to you everything I learnt from My Father. You did not choose Me; it was I Who chose you and sent you to go and bear fruit, fruit that will last. And everything you ask the Father in My Name, He will give you.”

“This is My command, that you love one another.”

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Wednesday, 14 May 2025 : Feast of St. Matthias the Apostle (Psalm)

Liturgical Colour : Red

Psalm 112 : 1-2, 3-4, 5-6, 7-8

Alleluia! Praise, o servants of YHVH, praise the Name of YHVH! Blessed be the Name of YHVH now and forever!

From eastern lands to the western islands, may the Name of YHVH be praised! YHVH is exalted over the nations; His glory above the heavens.

Who is like YHVH our God, Who sits enthroned on high, but also bends down to see on earth as in heaven?

He lifts up the poor from the dust and the needy from the ash heap. He makes them sit with princes, with rulers of His people.

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Wednesday, 14 May 2025 : Feast of St. Matthias the Apostle (First Reading)

Liturgical Colour : Red

Acts 1 : 15-17, 20-26

It was during this time that Peter stood up in the midst of the community – about one hundred and twenty in all – and he said, “Brothers, it was necessary that the Scriptures referring to Judas be fulfilled. The Holy Spirit had spoken through David about the one who would lead the crowd coming to arrest Jesus. He was one of our number and had been called to share our common ministry.”

“In the Book of Psalms it is written : ‘Let his house become deserted and may no one live in it.’ But it is also written : ‘May another take his office.’ Therefore, we must choose someone from among those who were with us during all the time that the Lord Jesus moved about with us, beginning with John’s baptism until the day when Jesus was taken away from us. One of these has to become, with us, a witness to His resurrection.”

Then they proposed two : Joseph, called Barsabbas, also known as Justus, and Matthias. They prayed : “You know, Lord, what is in the hearts of all. Show us, therefore, which of the two You have chosen to replace Judas in this Apostolic ministry which he deserted to go to the place he deserved.”

Then they drew lots between the two and the choice fell on Matthias who was added to the eleven Apostles.

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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, 10 May 2025 : 3rd Week of Easter, Memorial of St. John of Avila, Priest and Doctor of the Church (Homily and Scripture Reflections)

Liturgical Colour : White

Dear brothers and sisters in Christ, today as we continue to progress through this time and season of Easter, and as we listened to the words of the Sacred Scriptures, we are all reminded of the need for all of us as Christians to be truly faithful to God and to put our trust in Him especially whenever we are faced with doubt and uncertainties in life. We should not allow ourselves to be easily swayed by all those challenges and temptations that we end up losing our faith and focus in the Lord. Instead, we should continue to deepen our faith and trust in the Lord, committing ourselves ever more wholeheartedly to what the Lord has called us all to do in our own lives. Each and every one of us who are part of the Church of God have our own roles to play in the work of God’s salvation.

In our first reading today, we heard of the works of St. Peter the Apostle, who like the other Apostles were going around many places, visiting towns one after another to minister to the people of God in all those places. St. Peter performed many miracles and signs in his visits to the towns of Lydda and Joppa, healing the paralysed and bedridden man named Aeneas by the power of the Lord and through the man’s faith in God, and we have also heard how he raised the dead woman named Tabitha, who had been righteous and beloved by the community of the people for her loving actions to her fellow brethren around her. In both cases, we heard how God performed His wonderful works through St. Peter the Apostle to show His faithfulness to the promises which He had reassured them all.

By those signs and wonders, the Lord wanted to show His people just how He would always be with them, guiding them and being by their side. He would never abandon them to the darkness or to persecution and suffering alone by themselves. Those signs, the miracles and wonders showed that the power and the hands of the Lord were with His Church and His servants, strengthening both the Apostles, the disciples and the whole body of the faithful alike. The Lord never abandoned those whom He has loved, and He gave them all peace as mentioned in the same passage, after Saul the Pharisee, who had intensely persecuted the Church even miraculously and almost unbelievably turned over to the Christian faith himself, becoming a member of the Church and one of its greatest defenders in time.

Then, in our Gospel passage today, we heard of the aftermath of the discourse on the Bread of Life which we have heard in these past few days, where the Lord presented Himself fully and clearly before the people who listened to Him that He is truly the One Whom God had sent into our midst from Heaven, revealing the method by which He would do this. He would give all of them His Body and Blood to share and partake, to have Him as the Bread of Life, the Living Bread from Heaven through which all of them would receive life from God, justification and liberation from their troubles and hardships. Through the giving of His own Precious Blood and Body, the Lord wants each and every one of us to be strengthened and empowered by His Presence in us, as with Him, truly there is no obstacle that is too great or too difficult to be overcome.

We should also keep our trust and faith in the Lord, even when things are not favourable for us. Often times in living our faith in our respective lives, we may encounter difficult and challenging moments, just as how the Lord Himself was abandoned and left by many of His followers who felt uncomfortable at the words that He had used in describing Himself as the Bread of Life, in how He would indeed give them all His own Most Precious Body and Blood to share and partake. Such a truth and reality was too hard for many among the disciples and followers of the Lord at the time to accept and embrace, and they chose to walk away from Him. But for us, should we do the same as well? Should we abandon the Lord and leave Him behind simply because what we believe in is something difficult for us to accept and embrace as well?

Today, the Church marks the Feast of St. John of Avila, a great and holy man of God, a truly inspiring example for all of us to follow in our own faith and life. He was born to a pious couple and was a pious young man himself dedicated to God since his youth. He eventually went through the priestly formation and became a priest, in which he dedicated his time and efforts to evangelise and inflame the hearts of the faithful, so much so that he was also known popularly as the ‘Apostle to Andalusia’. St. John of Avila worked hard in the many areas of Andalusia, and his sermons and works were always very well attended with packed churches and many flocking to listen to him. He was also critical of the debauchery and wickedness of the aristocracy and nobility, as well as the higher echelon of the Church, calling for reforms in their behaviour.

For all these, St. John of Avila did face obstacles and difficulties, and he was even imprisoned amidst those struggles. But all those things did not prevent or discourage this man of God from continuing to do his best for the Church and the faithful people of God. He continued with his ministry and works, and he was well-known with his numerous writings and works that still inspired many throughout the ages, right up to this very day. That was why after his passing, he was venerated by the people and was eventually canonised by Pope St. Paul VI in the year 1970, and very recently, in recognition for his many works of the matters of the faith, his writings and other inspirations, Pope Francis declared him to be one of the few Doctors of the Church.

Brothers and sisters in Christ, let us all therefore be inspired by the examples showed unto us by St. John of Avila and many others of our holy predecessors. Let us all continue to go forth in life proclaiming the Lord ever more faithfully and courageously, ever strengthened by His Real Presence in our midst, by our partaking of the Eucharist, that is the Lord Himself being truly present in our midst, giving us His strength, grace and love amidst the challenges and trials that we may have to face or endure in our daily living. Let us all therefore remain firmly faithful and committed to the Lord, now and always, and strive our best to do His will at all times. Amen.

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Saturday, 10 May 2025 : 3rd Week of Easter, Memorial of St. John of Avila, Priest and Doctor of the Church (Gospel Reading)

Liturgical Colour : White

John 6 : 60-69

At that time, after the Jews heard Jesus, many of His followers said, “This language is very hard! Who can accept it?”

Jesus was aware that His disciples were murmuring about this, and so He said to them, “Does this offend you? Then how will you react when you see the Son of Man ascending to where He was before? It is the Spirit that gives life, not the flesh. The words that I have spoken to you are Spirit and they are life. But among you there are some who do not believe.”

From the beginning, Jesus knew who would betray Him. So He added, “As I have told you, no one can come to Me unless it is granted by the Father.” After this many disciples withdrew and no longer followed Him. Jesus asked the Twelve, “Will you also go away?

Peter answered Him, “Lord, to whom shall we go? You have the words of eternal life. We now believe and know that You are the Holy One of God.”