21 April 2014

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Monday, 21 April 2014 : Monday within Easter Octave (Scripture Reflections)

Liturgical Colour : White

Brothers and sisters in Christ, we are now celebrating the great joy of Easter, which is so great that it overflows throughout the entirety of the fifty days of the Easter season, and particularly this week, which is the Easter Octave, which runs between the Easter Sunday and the Second Sunday of Easter, which is the Divine Mercy Sunday.

At this time of great joy, the Scriptures reminded us that we have to remain faithful and joyful servants of the Lord, but not just that, as we also have to be the faithful servants of our Lord, in being truthful and upright in our testimony and  as true witnesses of the resurrection of our Lord Jesus Christ, and abandoning and casting away all forms of falsehoods which the devil tries to plant in the hearts of men.

When Peter was filled with the Holy Spirit, he spoke the truth with great courage to the people who ridiculed the apostles for being drunk after they spoke in tongues filled with the Holy Spirit. Peter testimonied and witnessed for the Lord before the thousands of people gathered in Jerusalem, and the power of the Spirit gave great courage to this man once riddled with fear and uncertainty.

The testimony of Peter was true and firm, and it showed to the people how mistaken they had been in their beliefs about Christ and on what the leaders and the elders of the people had tried to falsely portray the Christ as. The words of Peter and the angels of the Lord that appeared to the holy women rang true and shed light over the darkness of evil that veiled this world.

Why did the elders of the people try to deceive the people by lying to them about the resurrection of the Lord? And this even though the fact was that they were the ones most knowledgeable about the Scriptures and therefore should have been the ones who knew most about what the Lord will do through His Son the Messiah?

That is because of sins in the hearts of men. Even the supposedly most holy and learnt of the people of God could be corrupted by these sins, which blocked the light and salvation of God, as sins, especially that of pride, clouded the hearts and judgments of men, preventing them from taking part in the Lord’s plan of salvation and instead did their best to undermine the Lord’s good works through Jesus.

The elders and the chief priests feared that if Jesus was allowed to have His way, and if what He has done and shown the people is true, then their influence and power within the society and with the people of God will be undermined and destroyed. That is why they hated Jesus and always tried to be in His way as He performed His many good works, and even to the end, they mocked Him on the way to Calvary, on the cross, and even tried to undermine the good news of His glorious resurrection.

Such indeed, was the danger of the human pride and sins that inhabit our hearts. They can derail us from our path to God and close our senses from the ability to sense and understand the love that God has for us, which He had shown in perfection through His Son Jesus, in His life, His suffering and death, and ultimately, His resurrection from the dead.

Let us in this Easter season, as we celebrate the joy of life, a new life in the Risen Lord, also help one another to witness for the truth about the Lord and about our genuine and dedicated faith in Him. Let us preach the Good News of the Risen Lord and Saviour to all mankind, praising Him before all creations that more and more will come to believe and accept Jesus Christ as God, as Peter had once done with the great courage of the Holy Spirit.

May this Easter be a great, wonderful and blessed one for all of us. Let us rejoice and be glad in our Risen Lord. God bless us all. Amen.

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Monday, 21 April 2014 : Monday within Easter Octave (Gospel Reading)

Liturgical Colour : White

Matthew 28 : 8-15

They left the tomb at once in fear, yet with great joy, and they ran to tell the news to His disciples. Suddenly, Jesus 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, 21 April 2014 : 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, 21 April 2014 : 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.”