Liturgical Colour : White

Psalm 65 : 8-9, 16-17, 20

Praise our God, o nations, let the sound of His praise be heard, for He has preserved us among the living and kept our feet from stumbling.

All you who fear God, come and listen; let me tell you what He has done. I cried aloud to Him, extolling Him with my tongue.

May God be blessed! He has not rejected my prayer; nor withheld His love from me.

Liturgical Colour : White

Acts 8 : 26-40

An Angel of the Lord said to Philip, “Go south towards the road that goes down from Jerusalem to Gaza, the desert road.” So he set out and it happened that an Ethiopian was passing along that way. He was an official in charge of the treasury of the queen of the Ethiopians; he had come on pilgrimage to Jerusalem and was on his way home. He was sitting in his carriage and reading the prophet Isaiah.

The Spirit said to Philip, “Go and catch up with that carriage.” So Philip ran up and heard the man reading the prophet Isaiah; and he asked, “Do you really understand what you are reading?” The Ethiopian replied, “How can I, unless someone explains it to me?”

He then invited Philip to get in and sit beside him. This was the passage of Scripture he was reading : He was led like a sheep to be slaughtered; like a lamb that is dumb before the shearer, He did not open His mouth. He was humbled and deprived of His rights. Who can speak of His descendants? For He was uprooted from the earth.

The official asked Philip, “Tell me, please, does the prophet speak of himself or of someone else?” Then Philip began to tell him the Good News of Jesus, using this text of Scripture as his starting point. As they travelled down the road they came to a place where there was some water. Then the Ethiopian official said, “Look, here is water; what is to keep me from being baptised?”

Then he ordered the carriage to stop; both Philip and the Ethiopian went down into the water and Philip baptised him. When they came out of the water, the Spirit of the Lord took Philip away. The Ethiopian saw him no more, but he continued on his way full of joy.

Philip found himself at Azotus, and he went about announcing the Good News in all the towns until he reached Caesarea.

Liturgical Colour : White or Red (Martyrs)

Dear brothers and sisters in Christ, in today’s readings we begin the discourse on the persecution of the Apostles after what had happened to St. Stephen when he stood up for his faith before the Council of the Jews, and there, the disciples who grew in number rapidly as more and more people became believers in Christ, were then pursued and were actively persecuted for their faith.

To live as a disciple of Christ at that time, it was very difficult indeed, and for the Apostles in particular, their job was not easy at all. They had to travel from places to places, but many rejected them and refused to listen to them. This was just as what Jesus Himself had predicted, that the world and many of those who followed the ways of the world would reject them, and thus, they too were equally rejected by God.

But Jesus gave His people, and all of us a reassuring message, that those who have chosen Him and devote themselves to His path would not be left behind. He will always be with those who are devoted to Him, bless them and keep them in His grace. For He is the source of all life, the Bread of Life which has come down from heaven, as the divine sustenance through which all of us may receive life through our faith.

There were many of those, who for the various reasons had refused to believe in God and in His ways. They closed the doors of the heart, their ears and minds from the words of God spoken to them by the Apostles. They were like the Pharisees, the teachers of the Law, the elders and the chief priests, the majority of whom refused to believe in Jesus our Lord, even though they themselves had witnessed the miracles and the great things He had done.

But that does not matter, brethren, as what is important is for us to continue to believe in God and do what He had asked us to do faithfully in all aspects of our lives. We must have that strong and living faith in our God, which we ought to show through our actions in life, and in how we deal with one another. We should show our faith courageously, even despite the oppositions of the world. We ourselves may encounter rejection and persecution too.

Let us look at the examples of the saint whose feast day we are celebrating today. Today we commemorate the feast of Pope St. Martin I, a holy Pope, leader of the whole Universal Church during one of its early days, and a martyr for the Faith and for the cause of the Lord. Pope St. Martin was a great example to many of the faithful, both who lived during his time and afterwards.

Pope St. Martin I led the Church through a difficult time. Although at that time, the Christian faith has become the official faith for the Roman Empire, and many people had followed the Lord and believed in Him, but then the threat of false teachings from false prophets were looming large throughout the Empire. Many people subscribed to the false teachings and refused to believe in the truth of the Church.

Pope St. Martin helped to coordinate the efforts to combat the heresy and all the aberrations of the faith. He worked tirelessly against those who would subvert and pull away the faithful from God’s salvation, and this made him many enemies even amongst the powerful and the influential families and nobles who believed in the false teachings.

He was martyred when he refused to stop his efforts to champion the truth, and he was arrested, tortured and finally met his end at the hands of his persecutors. And yet, while his earthly life ended, his heavenly and eternal life had just begun. This is a lesson for us, not to give up or to be swayed by whatever that the world is trying to strike us with, in opposing our efforts to bring the truth of God to many people.

Let us all keep our faith in God, and care for one another, especially in bringing God’s Good News to each other. Let us all not be deterred by those who threaten us or brought terror upon us so as not to bring God’s truth and salvation to our brethren still living in the darkness. Instead, let us all commit ourselves to spread the truth to more and more people, and thus become true and living Christians through our actions in faith. May God bless us all in our endeavours. Amen.

Liturgical Colour : White or Red (Martyrs)

John 6 : 35-40

At that time, Jesus said to the Jews, “I am the Bread of Life; whoever comes to Me shall never be hungry, and whoever believes in Me shall never be thirsty. Nevertheless, as I said, you refuse to believe, even when you have seen. Yet all those whom the Father gives Me will come to Me, and whoever comes to Me, I shall not turn away. For I have come from heaven, not to do My own will, but the will of the One Who sent Me.”

“And the will of Him Who sent Me is that I lose nothing of what He has given Me, but instead that I raise it up on the last day. This is the will of the Father, that whoever sees the Son and believes in Him shall live eternal life; and I will raise him up on the last day.”

Liturgical Colour : White or Red (Martyrs)

Psalm 65 : 1-3a, 4-5, 6-7a

Shout with joy to God, all you on earth; sing to the glory of His Name; proclaim His glorious praise. Say to God, “How great are Your deeds!”

All the earth bows down to You, making music in praise of You, singing in honour of Your Name. Come and see God’s wonders, His deeds awesome for humans.

He has turned the sea into dry land, and the river was crossed on foot. Let us, therefore, rejoice in Him. He rules by His might forever.

Liturgical Colour : White or Red (Martyrs)

Acts 8 : 1b-8

This was the beginning of a great persecution against the Church in Jerusalem. All, except the Apostles, were scattered throughout the region of Judea and Samaria. Devout men buried Stephen and mourned deeply for him. Saul meanwhile was trying to destroy the Church; he entered house after house and dragged off men and women and had them put in jail.

At the same time those who were scattered went about preaching the word. Philip went down to a town of Samaria and proclaimed the Christ there. All the people paid close attention to what Philip said as they listened to him and saw the miraculous signs that he did.

For in cases of possession, the unclean spirits came out shrieking loudly. Many people who were paralysed or crippled were healed. So there was great joy in that town.