1st Week of Easter

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Tuesday, 7 April 2026 : Tuesday within Easter Octave (Homily and Scripture Reflections)

Liturgical Colour : White

Dear brothers and sisters in Christ, today as we continue to progress through this blessed and most joyful Easter Octave, a period of great rejoicing and thanksgiving for God’s great love and kindness for us, let us all turn towards the Lord and renew our hope in Him, remembering how He has come into our midst precisely so that He might redeem us all sinners, and reconcile us all to our most loving Father and Creator. The Resurrection of Our Lord Jesus Christ proved to us that death is not the ultimate end of all things, and that our fate is not to be one of death and destruction, but rather that of eternal life and a new existence in grace and love together with God. Death has come to us because of our disobedience and sins against God, but Christ, by His willing and most generous embracing of our weakened and unworthy selves, have opened for us the path out of the darkness and sins.

In our first reading today, as the continuation from the Acts of the Apostles, we heard how many of the assembled people in Jerusalem asked St. Peter and the other disciples about whatever they had done, and the wicked deeds which they had committed in rejecting their Lord, Master and Saviour, by condemning Him to death on the Cross. But St. Peter reiterated again how Christ has come into this world in order to gather all those who have been lost to Him, to be our most loving Shepherd and Guide so that all of us may find our path to the salvation in the Lord, our most loving, compassionate and merciful God. St. Peter reassured all of them that through Christ and by their repentance, in rejecting the sins and wickedness that they had committed, they would be reconciled and reunited with God, and God would grant them His Holy Spirit to strengthen and guide them all to Himself.

In our Gospel passage today, we then heard of how Mary Magdalene, one of the first of the women to go to the tomb of the Lord Jesus on Easter Sunday morning, only to find the tomb to be empty, lamented the disappearance of the Lord’s Body, and thought that His Body must have been stolen by someone. The Angel of God appeared to her and the other women, reassuring them all that the Lord has risen from the dead and was no longer in His tomb. Then the Lord Himself appeared to Mary Magdalene, and revealed Himself to her, how He has truly risen from the dead. It is all these revelations and truth which the Lord has revealed to His disciples and followers, through His other appearances throughout the period between His Resurrection and Ascension into Heaven, witnessed by many of His followers, which reassured and strengthened them in their faith in God.

Brothers and sisters in Christ, as Christians, which means that we believe in Christ, His truth, His words and wisdom, and in His Resurrection, and that He is truly the Son of God and the Saviour of all, all of us have received the same revelation and truth as that of the other disciples of the Lord. We have received all these truths and wisdom through the Church, and through the many teachers and ministers of our faith. God has shown Himself and His truth to us, calling us all to Himself and entrusting to us the same mission that He has given to His Apostles and disciples, that is to proclaim His Good News, the Good News about His coming and His works of salvation amongst us, and His Resurrection by which He has overcome sin and death, and won for us a great victory in the struggle against the forces of evil, leading us all into a new path towards eternal life.

All of us are called and reminded to be truly committed to the Lord as we continue living our lives daily as Christians. And throughout this Easter season, all of us should use the time and opportunity to share the joy of Easter we have with each other, and with more and more people that we encounter each day. We are all reminded that in Christ we have received the sure guarantee of eternal life and salvation, and as long as we remain firmly attached to Him and as long as we continue to hold firm to His path and believe in His truth, we shall receive the fullness of God’s grace and love. We are truly the Easter people and Alleluia is our song, just as Pope St. John Paul II once said it. But we cannot be an Easter people without the right attitude, that in our lives we have to radiate the light of Christ, the joy and desire to serve and glorify the Lord through all of our actions and works.

Brothers and sisters in Christ, let us all therefore spend some time in this Easter season to live our lives more worthily as Christians, dedicating our time and efforts to walk ever more righteously in the path that the Lord has set before us. This is a time for us to remind ourselves what it means to be Christians. Each one of us should live our lives with ever greater commitment to proclaim the Risen Lord in our every actions and lives. We should truly embody our faith in our every works and efforts, so that we may inspire everyone who witness our actions and interact with us in any capacity, that we will inspire more and more to come ever closer to the Lord and to find their path towards Him. That is why this Easter is the best opportunity and time for us as we go forth from all of our Easter joy, to go and proclaim joyfully the Lord’s Resurrection to the nations.

But we cannot truly proclaim the Risen Lord unless we are truly wholehearted and committed to Him in all things, and we have to be truly converted in our hearts and minds. This is why we have to do whatever we can to do God’s will in our lives, even in the smallest things we do. Unless we do this, then we are not being truly obedient and truthful in our following of the Lord, in our Christian duty and obligations, and in carrying out our missions as those who follow the Lord and obey His commandments. We have to be good examples to our fellow brethren, and we have to commit ourselves to our missions as Christians, which God has entrusted to us, in our various capacities and using the talents, abilities, gifts and opportunities that He has granted us. This Easter we are all reminded that we all need to go forth with joy to the world, and be evangelising, missionary disciples.

This means that each and every one of us should always fill our lives, our actions and our every deeds in our interactions and efforts in daily life with the genuine faith that is lived out through action, through our love that is truly a reflection of God’s love in all things, in how we speak, in how we interact with one another, in how we show tender, patient and genuine love to everyone around us, to those who are dear and beloved to us, and even to those who have caused us harm and did us wrong. Each and every one of us as Christians ought to show this in our daily actions so that all those who encounter us and experience our actions, words and efforts can truly recognise the Presence of God in their lives and His truth and love through us and our good examples in living our faith most genuinely, as best as we can.

Brothers and sisters in Christ, let us all hence go forth joyfully and share our faith with everyone we encounter, in a respectful and loving way. Let us all show our joy this Easter and be truly filled with Easter joy, reminding ourselves that Easter is truly a greater celebration than Christmas. If we have shown our joy in Christmas, then our joy this period and time should be doubled and even more. But let our joy always be focused on Christ, Our Lord and Saviour, and let our attention always be centred on the Risen Christ, on the glory of His Resurrection and everything that He has done for us, for our salvation and redemption. May God bless us always and may the grace of the Risen Christ be with us all. Amen.

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Tuesday, 7 April 2026 : Tuesday within Easter Octave (Gospel Reading)

Liturgical Colour : White

John 20 : 11-18

At that time, Mary stood weeping outside the tomb; and as she wept, she bent down to look inside. She saw two Angels in white, sitting where the Body of Jesus had been, one at the head, and the other at the feet. They said, “Woman, why are you weeping?”

She answered, “Because they have taken my Lord and I do not know where they have put Him.” As she said this, she turned around and saw Jesus standing there, but she did not recognise Him. Jesus said to her, “Woman, why are you weeping? Who are you looking for?”

She thought it was the gardener and answered Him, “Lord, if You have taken Him away, tell me where You have put Him, and I will go and remove Him.” Jesus said to her, “Mary!” She turned, and said to Him, “Rabboni!” – which means Master. Jesus said to her, “Do not touch Me, because I have not yet ascended to the Father. But go to My brothers and say to them : I am ascending to My Father, Who is your Father, to My God, Who is your God.”

So Mary of Magdala went and announced to the disciples, “I have seen the Lord, and this is what He said to me.”

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Tuesday, 7 April 2026 : Tuesday within Easter Octave (Psalm)

Liturgical Colour : White

Psalm 32 : 4-5, 18-19, 20 and 22

For upright is the Lord’s word and worthy of trust is His work. The Lord loves justice and righteousness; the earth is full of His kindness.

But the Lord’s eyes are upon those who fear Him, upon those who trust in His loving-kindness to deliver them from death and preserve them from famine.

In hope we wait for the Lord for He is our help and our shield. O Lord, let Your love rest upon us, even as our hope rests in You.

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Tuesday, 7 April 2026 : Tuesday within Easter Octave (First Reading)

Liturgical Colour : White

Acts 2 : 36-41

Peter said, “Let Israel then know for sure that God has made Lord and Christ this Jesus Whom you crucified.” When they heard this, they were deeply troubled. And they asked Peter and the other Apostles, “What shall we do, brothers?”

Peter answered : “Each of you must repent and be baptised in the Name of Jesus Christ, so that your sins may be forgiven. Then you will receive the gift of the Holy Spirit. For the promise of God was made to you and your children, and to all those from afar whom our God may call.”

With many other words Peter gave the message and appealed to them saying, “Save yourselves from this crooked generation.” So those who accepted his word were baptised; some three thousand persons were added to their numbers that day.

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Monday, 6 April 2026 : Monday within Easter Octave (Homily and Scripture Reflections)

Liturgical Colour : White

Dear brothers and sisters in Christ, today we all continue to celebrate with great joy the celebrations of Easter that began with Easter Vigil and Easter Sunday, as this is just the second day of the Octave of Easter, which lasts until the Second Sunday of Easter or Divine Mercy Sunday, and in fact, the whole Easter season lasts a period of an entire fifty days until the Pentecost Sunday. Yet, from what we have also heard from our Scripture passages today, we are also reminded that our Easter joy and celebrations should not be limited and restricted just to that period only, as we must realise that what we celebrate this Easter is something fundamental and important in our Christian faith, as we rejoice and celebrate together our Lord’s glorious Resurrection from the dead, and how He has saved each one of us from our predicament and sins, by His Passion, His suffering, death and Resurrection.

In our first reading today, we heard from the Acts of the Apostles of the works of the Apostles, led by St. Peter, who went forth amongst the people on the day of the Pentecost, fifty days after the Lord’s Resurrection, to proclaim among them all the truth about the Lord, all of His works, His Resurrection and all that He had done, for the salvation of all the people. Back then, the disciples of the Lord had been hiding in fear after the Lord’s Ascension into Heaven, as the Jewish leaders, the chief priests and the elders who had mostly been opposed to the Lord and His teachings, had banned anyone from teaching or speaking in His Name, and vowed to persecute anyone who did so. That was why they were in hiding, while praying and gathering together as a community of believers. Then, on the day of the Pentecost, the Holy Spirit came upon the disciples just as the Lord Himself had promised, and the Holy Spirit strengthened the disciples and encouraged them, gave them Wisdom and power to carry out what the Lord wanted them to do.

That was how they all became so courageous, in going forth from their hiding, and no longer hiding their beliefs, but preaching about the Risen Lord openly among the people, during the time when many people from the Jewish diaspora and beyond came to Jerusalem for the Pentecost festival. They all spoke with vigour and strength, and as St. Peter had done, they told them all of the wonderful things that God had done through His Son Jesus Christ, the One Whom the people had just recently rejected and condemned to death, put on the Cross to die and yet, by Whose death, God has willingly accepted His perfect offering and sacrifice, to redeem all of us from our many sins and wickedness. God has been reconciled with us through His Son, and by His Resurrection, Christ has shown us the sure path to eternal life. St. Peter spoke to all assembled of how Christ has revealed God’s salvation to all through His coming into this world and His Resurrection, fulfilling the promises that God had made to all their forefathers.

This is the same truth that they themselves had received from the holy women, Mary of Magdalene and others who went to the tomb of the Lord on the morning of Easter Sunday, only to see the tomb empty and open, without any Body and anyone inside. We heard from our Gospel passage today how the Angel of God proclaimed to the women that the Lord has risen gloriously from the dead just as He has foretold. We heard how the fulfilment of God’s promises had indeed come through Christ, and then of how those same chief priests and their supporters tried to hide and conceal the truth in the same Gospel passage, by bribing the soldiers and the officials to tell lies and untruths about what had actually happened, to the point of stating that the disciples had come to steal the Body of the Lord while the soldiers were sleeping, which was something that was truly unbelievable as the Roman soldiers then were renowned for their discipline and watchfulness.

That was unfortunately the extent of the lack of faith of the people of God, those whom the Lord had first appeared to and called first. Many of those chief priests and elders were so hard set in their ways and beliefs that they were unable to open their hearts and minds to listen to the Lord and to His truth that has been delivered and shown to them, despite the many times that they had witnessed the works of the Lord, His truth and all that He has taught among the people of God. This is because they had allowed worldly vices and ambitions, their attachments to worldly glory and desires to cloud their vision and judgments, leading them to close their hearts and minds against God, and turning themselves into obstacles and barriers in the path of many who are coming to seek the Lord. And yet, the Lord still called His disciples to proclaim His truth to them, as what many of them would do to reach out to these stubborn ones.

As we all know, God even made one of them to be one of His own most fervent followers, as one of the most passionate and courageous defenders of the faith, namely St. Paul the Apostle, who was once a great persecutor of Christians and an enemy of the Lord. In his foolish pursuit for power and influence, and in the misguided path he traversed as a young Pharisee named Saul, easily swayed by the temptations of worldly glory and by his misdirected zeal, caused by the distortions and falsehoods that the chief priests and the Pharisees themselves had spread, in making themselves to believe that the Lord Jesus was a fraud and that His teachings were blasphemous and a heresy, hence, causing St. Paul as the young Saul and many others to do what was against God’s will, resisting His good works and actions.

Brothers and sisters in Christ, now as we all gather together today to continue to rejoice in the Easter joy, and as we continue to live our lives as faithful and good Christians, let us all therefore renew our commitment to the Lord, to be evangelising disciples in our outreach and efforts to proclaim the Word of God, His truth and resurrection to more and more people all throughout the whole world, in our respective communities, families, circles of friends, in our schools and workplaces. Let us all be the beacons of the Light of Christ and the Hope of His Resurrection, in the midst of all the communities that we are all part of. Let us all be the source of inspiration and hope for everyone who are still suffering and enduring a lot of hardships, or are in the midst of sorrows and despair, that just as Christ has come into our midst bearing His Light of Hope and salvation, we may also bring that same Light to our brethren in need.

This means that all of us should always strive to live our lives virtuously, as a reflection of God’s love and grace, in loving God Himself and in loving those around us, showing genuine love, care and compassion to everyone around us. We are all called to be the bearers of God’s Light, Hope and Love to our world, and we can do this by showing love in our every actions, in our every words and deeds. This means that in even the smallest of our words and actions, in every interactions that we have with each other, we should always aspire to be bearers of God’s most wonderful love, in loving those whom God had entrusted to us to love, those most dearly beloved to us and those who are in need of our love and kindness, in all things and at all times.

May all of us be courageous in proclaiming the word of God and may we continue to be exemplary in our lives and actions so that we may truly be genuine Christians in our way of life, in our every actions, dealings and interactions. May the Risen Lord continue to encourage and strengthen us so that we may keep on venturing further like the Apostles and disciples of the Lord, in doing the good works of the Lord, for the salvation of many people who are in need of the light and hope of God in their midst. May all of us be the faithful bearers of Christ’s Light in our communities and societies all around us. Amen.

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Monday, 6 April 2026 : Monday within Easter Octave (Gospel Reading)

Liturgical Colour : White

Matthew 28 : 8-15

At that time, the woman left the tomb at once in fear, yet with great joy, and they ran to tell the news to Jesus’ disciples. Suddenly, He met them on the way and said, “Rejoice!” The women approached Him, embraced His feet and worshipped Him. But Jesus said to them, “Do not be afraid! Go and tell My brothers to set out for Galilee; there they will see Me.”

While the women were on their way, the guards returned to the city, and some of them reported to the chief priests all that had happened. The chief priests met with the elders, and decided to give the soldiers a large sum of money, with this instruction, “Say that His disciples came by night while you were asleep, and stole the Body of Jesus. If Pilate comes to know of this, we will explain the situation and keep you out of trouble.”

The soldiers accepted the money and did as they were told. This story has circulated among the Jews until this day.

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Monday, 6 April 2026 : Monday within Easter Octave (Psalm)

Liturgical Colour : White

Psalm 15 : 1-2a and 5, 7-8, 9-10, 11

Keep me safe, o God, for in You I take refuge. I say to the Lord, “O Lord, my inheritance and my cup, my chosen portion – hold secure my lot.”

I bless the Lord Who counsels me; even at night my inmost self instructs me. I keep the Lord always before me; for with Him at my right hand, I will never be shaken.

My heart, therefore, exults, my soul rejoices; my body too will rest assured. For You will not abandon my soul to the grave, nor will You suffer Your Holy One to see decay in the land of the dead.

You will show me the path of life, in Your presence the fullness of joy, at Your right hand happiness forever.

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Monday, 6 April 2026 : Monday within Easter Octave (First Reading)

Liturgical Colour : White

Acts 2 : 14, 22-33

Then Peter stood up with the Eleven and, with a loud voice, addressed them, “Fellow Jews and all foreigners now staying in Jerusalem, listen to what I have to say. Fellow Israelites, listen to what I am going to tell you about Jesus of Nazareth. God accredited Him and through Him did powerful deeds and wonders and signs in your midst, as you well know.”

“You delivered Him to sinners to be crucified and killed, and in this way the purpose of God from all times was fulfilled. But God raised Him to life and released Him from the pain of death, because it was impossible for Him to be held in the power of death. David spoke of Him when He said : I saw the Lord before me at all times; He is by my side, that I may not be shaken.”

“Therefore my heart was glad and my tongue rejoiced; my body too will live in hope. Because You will not forsake me in the abode of the dead, nor allow Your Holy One to experience corruption. You have made known to me the paths of life, and Your presence will fill me with joy.”

“Friends, I do not need to prove that the patriarch David died and was buried; his tomb is with us to this day. But he knew that God had sworn to him that One of his descendants would sit upon his throne and, as he was a prophet, he foresaw and spoke of the resurrection of the Messiah. So he said that He would not be left in the region of the dead, nor would His Body experience corruption.

This Messiah is Jesus and we are all witnesses that God raised Him to life. He has been exalted at God’s right side and the Father has entrusted the Holy Spirit to Him; this Spirit He has just poured upon us as you now see and hear.

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Saturday, 15 April 2023 : Saturday within Easter Octave (Homily and Scripture Reflections)

Liturgical Colour : White

Dear brothers and sisters in Christ, today as we listened to the words of the Sacred Scriptures, all of us are reminded of the mission that the Lord has entrusted to all of us as the members of His Church, that is to go forth and to proclaim His truth and love to the people of the whole world, and to announce His Good News and salvation to all. As part of the same Church of God we share the same calling and mission to reach out to more and more people all around us, to bring forth the true joy of Easter, that is none other than the Risen Christ Himself, Our Saviour, to all of them. As Christians, all of us should spend the time and effort to proclaim the Risen Lord through our every actions and works, in our every works and good efforts, doing whatever we can to proclaim the truth and love of God to all those whom we encounter in life.

In our first reading today, we heard from the Acts of the Apostles the culmination of the story of the miraculous healing of the crippled beggar who was sitting by the Beautiful Gate of the Temple of Jerusalem. That beggar had been crippled for a long time and the Apostles St. Peter and St. John had healed him from his afflictions in the Name of the Lord Jesus, the Risen Lord and Saviour. This immediately brought about a great amazement among the people, and an equally rapid attempt by the members of the Sanhedrin or the Jewish High Council, in trying to snuff out the fledgling and rapidly growing popularity of the Christian faith, the belief in the truth and teachings of the Lord Jesus Christ, in His Resurrection and other things, which those chief priests, Pharisees and other members of the Sanhedrin found to be offensive and undesirable.

We heard how those same members of the Sanhedrin were astonished and amazed at the great wisdom shown by the two Apostles, who were merely fishermen from the lake of Galilee, illiterate and from poor background. Yet, they spoke with such wisdom and eloquence, inspired and strengthened by the Holy Spirit that God had sent to them, that they were conflicted because they had seen such great signs and wonders being performed in the Name of the Lord Jesus, and yet, on the other hand, they were still stubborn in their refusal to accept the truth and the teachings that the Lord had brought with Him, and they were still adamant in their opposition to the Lord, considering Him as a blasphemer, criminal and as a False Messiah. Yet, the Apostles spoke courageously despite them being alone in the chamber against the whole multitudes of the Sanhedrin, preaching the truth of Christ to all of them.

The Apostles still courageously and fervently proclaimed the Risen Lord despite having been warned and threatened by the members of the Sanhedrin, and blatantly spoke that they could not remain silent or not to speak of what they themselves had heard and seen, and that they had to obey the commandments and the missions that the Lord had entrusted to them, rather than to obey the earthly orders and enforcements from those Sanhedrin officials. St. Peter and St. John, together with the other disciples of the Lord therefore continued to labour hard for the greater glory of God, spending much of their time and efforts, their whole lives in the service of God. They travelled extensively from place to place, reaching out to the people of God, proclaiming the Risen Lord, His truth and resurrection to more and more people, including to many of the Gentiles, the non-Jewish people.

In the midst of all that ministry and work, the disciples of the Lord and the faithful missionaries encountered great successes, with many among the Jews and the Gentiles alike turning towards the Lord, becoming members of the Christian faithful. They also encountered many challenges and trials in the midst of performing their works, as they faced bitter opposition and challenges not just from the Jewish authorities, the same members of the Sanhedrin mentioned earlier, and the efforts that those people had done in placing obstacles and hardships in the path of the Lord’s Apostles and disciples, but not only that, as the missionaries and Christian servants also faced challenges and opposition from many of the local rulers and authorities in the many places that they had visited and ministered in. They also faced opposition and persecution from the mighty Roman overlords and rulers, who began to persecute Christians throughout the Empire, a persecution that would last several centuries.

Yet, despite all those trials and challenges, the faithful disciples of the Lord still went forth and proclaim the truth of God nonetheless, fearlessly and courageously much as how the two Apostles, St. Peter and St. John had done. Many had to encounter a lot of hardships and struggles, but they were inspired by the examples of those who had come before them and faithfully served the Lord despite the trials. Not few even gave their lives in martyrdom to defend their Christian faith and the truth of God, and this served to inspire even more people, passing down the fundamental beliefs that they had received from the Apostles themselves, continuing what the Lord in our Gospel passage today had told His disciples, that all of His disciples and followers ought to go forth to the whole world, proclaim His Good News and make all to be His disciples.

Brothers and sisters in Christ, now, as we continue to progress through this season of Easter, let us ask ourselves if we are able to do what the Apostles and the other disciples of the Lord had done, in doing what the Lord had told and entrusted to them to do, in all the wonderful and great things that each one of them had done in their various capacities and ministries. Each one of us have received various gifts, abilities, talents, opportunities, blessings and graces, through which we certainly can do our part to proclaim the truth of God more and more in our various communities and in the many opportunities presented to us. The question for us now is, are we willing to commit the effort and the time to do so? By looking at the great examples shown by our holy predecessors, can we all be inspired to follow them as well?

May the Risen Lord, Our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ, continue to strengthen and guide us all in our journey of life, so that each one of us may continue to serve Him faithfully, making good use of whatever He had presented to us, and doing whatever we can to glorify Him by our lives. Let us all be good examples and source of inspiration for everyone all around us, and let us all be the shining beacons of Christ’s Light, Hope and truth at all times. May God bless all of us and be with us always. Amen.

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Saturday, 15 April 2023 : Saturday within Easter Octave (Gospel Reading)

Liturgical Colour : White

Mark 16 : 9-15

At that time, after Jesus rose early on the first day of the week, He appeared first to Mary of Magdala, from whom He had driven out seven demons. She went and reported the news to His followers, who were now mourning and weeping. But when they heard that He lived, and had been seen by her, they would not believe it.

After this He showed Himself in another form to two of them, as they were walking into the country. These men also went back and told the others, but they did not believe them. Later Jesus showed Himself to the Eleven while they were at table. He reproached them for their unbelief, and stubbornness, in refusing to believe those who had seen Him after He had risen.

Then He told them, “Go out to the whole world and proclaim the Good News to all creation.”