6 May 2015

by

Wednesday, 6 May 2015 : 5th Week of Easter (Homily and Scripture Reflections)

Liturgical Colour : White

Dear brothers and sisters in Christ, on this day we hear again on the parable of the vine, where Jesus compared Himself to a vine, which was tended by the vinegrower, who is the Father in heaven. We are His branches, that come out branching from the vine. This is a very good and indeed perfect representation of how God does His work in this world and in all of us.

We who are living have all been created by the Lord, who then breathed life into us through the Spirit. All of us share the same life that God had granted us, and this life is a blessing. We are all like the branches that share the same life and are sustained by that life which the stem and the vine provides. If the branch falls of from the stem and vine, then it will die, for it no longer has any connection with the life-giving vine.

Thus, without the Lord, we can have no life in us, and we ought to be thankful for this life which He had granted us. And then, we are all also part of His living Church, that is His Body. With Christ as the Head of the Church, we are all united as part of this same Body, united by the communion we share with His Most Precious Body and Blood, which we all receive regularly through the Most Holy Eucharist.

That is why, all of us when we receive the Eucharist, it is important for us to realise how crucial this is, that we have received the Lord, who is Life and the sources of all life, into ourselves, that we have Him inside us, and therefore, as Jesus Himself once said to the Samaritan woman, that whoever drinks the water He provides will never be thirsty again, for indeed, He dwells in us all and become an eternal spring of water and life that satisfy us and make us to never be lacking again.

This means that as long as we adhere ourselves to the ways and the teachings of the Master of Life, then we will have life in us. And His way is love, that is to love both God and men alike. The way of the Lord is simple, and yet difficult to be done as it is very easy for us all to be tempted away from the truth and into the falsehoods of Satan, the pleasures of the flesh and the other factors that make it difficult for us to execute the will of God faithfully and courageously.

The most important matter is for us to achieve a state of harmony in our hearts and our being with the way of the Lord. This means that in all of our words, deeds and actions we must always proclaim the Lord and testify for His truth. If the Lord dwells in us, then our actions must profess Him and show that we are truly faithful to Him. In the first reading today from the Acts of the Apostles, we saw how there were tensions between the believers of Jewish and non-Jewish origins. And the tension is on the matter of whether the laws of Moses should be observed by the non-Jews as well.

Those laws, while centred on the Law of God, given through Moses, had many human additions and embellishment that were placed in, for the sake of the maintenance and preservation of the practices and customs of the Jews. Those who argued that the non-Jews had to also fulfill the entirety of the laws of Moses failed to see that truly, to be God’s followers and disciples, it would not be enough to just fulfill the outward application of the Law of God, but more importantly, is the conversion of our inner beings that we are truly the followers of God in all things.

Many of the laws of Moses deal with the purity of the exterior and appearances, and while these may be good, they often may distract us from the true goal, that is to be righteous and just in the presence of God, obeying His will and practicing our faith through real words, deeds and actions. That is why, St. Paul and the Apostles, led by St. Peter, eventually judged that the whole world does not have to observe the fullness of the laws of Moses, but as long as they do what is expected of them as the members of the Church of God and one of the faithful, then it would be enough.

Therefore, it is a good lesson for us, that we should not think of something big and beyond our means to do, as we live out our faith. But indeed we must begin with small and simple things, that in every small and little actions that we do, we must proclaim and glorify the Lord. Let us all therefore take small but concrete steps to change our lives for the better and walk more in the way of the Lord. May Almighty God be with us, guide us and strengthen us in our faith. God bless us all. Amen.

by

Wednesday, 6 May 2015 : 5th Week of Easter (Gospel Reading)

Liturgical Colour : White

John 15 : 1-8

Jesus said to His disciples, “I am the True Vine and My Father is the Vinegrower. If any of My branches does not bear fruit, He breaks it off; and He prunes every branch that does bear fruit, that it may bear even more fruit.”

“You are already made clean by the word I have spoken to you. Live in Me as I live in you. The branch cannot bear fruit by itself, but has to remain part of the vine; so neither can you, if you do not remain in Me.”

“I am the Vine and you are the branches. As long as you remain in Me and I in you, you bear much fruit; but apart from Me you can do nothing. Whoever does not remain in Me is thrown away, as they do with branches, and they wither. Then they are gathered and thrown into the fire and burned.”

“If you remain in Me and My words in you, you may ask whatever you want, and it will be given to you. My Father is glorified when you bear much fruit : it is then that you become My disciples.”

by

Wednesday, 6 May 2015 : 5th Week of Easter (Psalm)

Liturgical Colour : White

Psalm 121 : 1-2, 3-4a, 4b-5

I rejoiced with those who said to me, “Let us go to the house of the Lord!” And now we have set foot within your gates, o Jerusalem!

Jerusalem, just like a city, where everything falls into place! There the tribes go up, the tribes of the Lord.

The assembly of Israel, to give thanks to the Lord’s Name. There stand the courts of justice, the offices of the house of David.

by

Wednesday, 6 May 2015 : 5th Week of Easter (First Reading)

Liturgical Colour : White

Acts 15 : 1-6

Some persons who had come from Judea to Antioch were teaching the brothers in this way, “Unless you are circumcised according to the Law of Moses, you cannot be saved.”

Because of this there was trouble, and Paul and Barnabas had fierce arguments with them. For Paul told the people to remain as they were when they became believers. Finally those who had come from Jerusalem suggested that Paul and Barnabas and some others to go up to Jerusalem to discuss the matter with the Apostles and elders.

They were sent on their way by the Church. As they passed through Phoenicia and Samaria they reported how the non-Jews had turned to God, and there was great joy among all the brothers and sisters. On their arrival in Jerusalem, they were welcomed by the Church, the Apostles and the elders, to whom they told all that God had done through them.

Some believers, however, who belonged to the party of the Pharisees, stood up and said that non-Jewish men must be circumcised and instructed to keep the Law of Moses. So the Apostles and elders met together to consider this matter.