6 May 2016

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Saturday, 7 May 2016 : Sixth Week of Easter, Eleventh Anniversary of the Enthronement of Pope Benedict XVI, Vicar of Christ and Supreme Pontiff (Homily and Scripture Reflections)

Liturgical Colour : White

Dear brothers and sisters in Christ, on this day we heard about the works of St. Paul in continuing his evangelisation of the peoples, spreading the Good News of God, and how an inspirational preacher, Apollos, who although lacking somewhat in the full knowledge of the faith, but he has a great courage and energy, as well as charisma in proclaiming the truth of God, and as a result, many people turned to God because of his works and his inspiring sermons.

He was helped by the other disciples who explained to him in greater detail the fullness of the teachings of our Lord Jesus Christ, and because of that, his works became ever more instrumental in helping to establish the strong foundations of the Church in the cities where he ministered in, especially in Ephesus and Corinth. Many of the people in those places became believers of Christ.

If you think that these people were great men and women who were very capable in all things, you are mistaken. God did not choose the great, the mighty and the powerful to be those whom He had chosen to be the extension of His mighty works on earth, but instead He chose the simple and normal people, just like each and every one of us, and He blesses those whom He had chosen to be His followers.

God will give all that the ones He blesses, granting them the authority over many things, even over sin and death. He will not leave those whom He had blessed alone. But the problem is that, it is so often that we are afraid to ask for help, and we are reluctant to ask our Lord for what we need and for what we want. In our reluctance, we do not gain what we needed, and therefore, we missed the opportunities for us to implement whatever good we have within us.

Sometimes we are afraid because we tend to view God as someone Who is exacting and wanting many things from us, and we do not therefore dare to seek for the Lord when we are in need, and we keep our hearts and minds closed against God. Or it may be that we also do not know that God is able to help us, either because we do not truly believe in Him, or that because we tend to ignore His words speaking in our hearts simply because we are too busy with matters of this world.

Ask and you shall receive, knock and the door shall be opened to you. Such is the very generous words and terms which our Lord has given us. After all, which other gods or beings would do the same? God Who loves us all wants us to listen to Him, to accept His path and to welcome His ways. And to that extent, He even sent us His own Son, Jesus to be our Saviour and as our Deliverer to free us from the bonds of our sins.

God has blessed us with many gifts and many graces. But it is really up to us how we ought to use them. As Christians we have to realise that we cannot be passive and inactive. It is such inactivity and passivity which has prevented us from seeking the Lord our God and asking Him for the graces and help which He is willing to give to us.

Christians must stand up and be active in making the effort to bring forth the gifts of God, of love, hope and faith, and share these with one another. This means that we should reach out to our brethren and love them through our actions, showing our genuine care and love for them, that through that same love, we may find true love in each other, and help one another in reaching out to God, and having shown love, we may therefore be found worthy by the Lord, and be welcomed into eternal life.

May God help us all in this journey of life, and may He strengthen the faith in each and every one of us. May all of us find the courage and the strength to always walk in the path of righteousness and justice. God bless us all. Amen.

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Saturday, 7 May 2016 : Sixth Week of Easter, Eleventh Anniversary of the Enthronement of Pope Benedict XVI, Vicar of Christ and Supreme Pontiff (Gospel Reading)

Liturgical Colour : White

John 16 : 23b-28

At that time, Jesus spoke to His disciples at the Last Supper, “Truly, I say to you, whatever you ask the Father in My Name, He will give you. So far you have not asked in My Name; ask, and receive, that your joy may be full. I taught you all this in veiled language, but the time is coming when I shall no longer speak in veiled language, but will tell you plainly of the Father.”

“When that day comes, you will ask in My Name; and it will not be for Me to ask the Father for you, for the Father Himself loves you, because you have loved Me, and you believe that I came from the Father. As I came from the Father, and have come into the world, so I am leaving the world, and going to the Father.”

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Saturday, 7 May 2016 : Sixth Week of Easter, Eleventh Anniversary of the Enthronement of Pope Benedict XVI, Vicar of Christ and Supreme Pontiff (Psalm)

Liturgical Colour : White

Psalm 46 : 2-3, 8-9, 10

Clap your hands, all you peoples; acclaim God with shouts of joy. For the Lord, the Most High, is to be feared; He is a great King all over the earth.

God is King of all the earth; sing to Him a hymn of praise. For God now rules over the nations, God reigns from His holy Throne.

The leaders of the nations rally together with the people of the God of Abraham. For in His hands are the great of the earth. God reigns far above.

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Saturday, 7 May 2016 : Sixth Week of Easter, Eleventh Anniversary of the Enthronement of Pope Benedict XVI, Vicar of Christ and Supreme Pontiff (First Reading)

Liturgical Colour : White

Acts 18 : 23-28

After spending some time at Antioch, Paul left and travelled from place to place through Galatia and Phrygia, strengthening the disciples.

A certain Jew named Apollos, a native of Alexandria, arrived at Ephesus. He was an eloquent speaker and an authority on the Scriptures, and he had some knowledge of the way of the Lord. With great enthusiasm he preached and taught correctly about Jesus, although he knew only of John’s baptism.

As he began to speak boldly in the synagogue, Priscilla and Aquila heard him; so they took him home with them and explained to him the way more accurately. As Apollos wished to go to Achaia, the believers encouraged him and wrote to the disciples there to welcome him.

When he arrived, he greatly strengthened those who, by God’s grace, had become believers, for he vigorously refuted the Jews, proving from the Scriptures that Jesus is the Messiah.

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Friday, 6 May 2016 : Sixth Week of Easter (Homily and Scripture Reflections)

Liturgical Colour : White

Dear brothers and sisters in Christ, on this day we heard the encouragements which God has given His Apostles, all those who dedicated themselves to Him and to His works. In the first reading, God encouraged and reassured St. Paul of His protection and providence, even as the Jews and all the enemies of the Church were plotting up sinister fates and ideas for St. Paul and his evangelising works.

And in the Gospel we heard how Jesus at the Last Supper foretold of His own suffering and Passion on the way of the cross, and how those times would be difficult for the Apostles to bear, as they would be tempted to run away and flee from these challenges, as shown by St. Peter and his thrice denial of knowing Jesus, because he was afraid and uncertain at that time, after his Master had been arrested by the Jewish authorities.

There would be troubles and challenges facing the faithful if they continued to remain faithful in God, and He wanted them to understand that the path forward would not be an easy one. After all, we were all under the thrall of sin, and through sin we have been under bondage and the tyranny of the devil, who wanted to gain as many souls of mankind as possible, to join him in the eternal damnation.

He knew that he could not win or triumph against God, and his final defeat has indeed been sealed, but that did not stop him from trying to lure mankind away from salvation and from their liberation of their sins. He is always busy at work trying to tempt us away from the path of righteousness in God, and offered us many other seemingly better alternatives that in fact leads not to God but to damnation.

And when he is unable to tempt us away or to lure us to the path which he has designed to bring us into our downfall, then he uses other methods, such as pressure, from the society, and even from within the family and from those whom we know, so that hopefully we may give up and conform to the ways of the world which the devil had advocated.

We may find this to be very distressing, and hope may dry up for us, when especially we are faced with opposition from even those who even know us well, and whom we know well. But God is reminding us that He is always with us, and He will never abandon us, and we need to know that we can trust in Him with all of our heart. He shall succour us, comfort us and He shall give us all a new hope.

He is the true Joy of the world, Who came into the world to bring light to a people who have long lived in the darkness. And through Him, a new hope and light has blossomed and grown in our hearts, and in all those who believe in Him, and have witnessed and known His glorious resurrection from even death, we know that there is hope, even amidst all the gloom and the darkness that surrounded us.

We should not be disheartened, brothers and sisters in Christ, but instead we should really be encouraged by what we have received from the Lord, and by what hope and grace we have been given. Had the Apostles been fearful as they were when the Jewish authorities arrested Jesus, and had they been passive and hiding from trouble, then the word of God and the truth of our Lord Jesus Christ would have been hidden from the rest of mankind.

Instead, they persevered onwards, and despite the challenges, they tried their best in order to fulfil the mission which God had entrusted them with. And even though they were arrested, put into prison, made to suffer, and some of them even were martyred, but all these did not dampen their spirit. And as a result, many people came to know of the Lord and became believers, and thus as a result, they were saved.

We should ponder on all these, and reflect on how all of us are also called to do the same as what the Apostles had done. Their work is not yet complete, and there are always many more things to be done. It is now up to us whether we continue their work and help more and more of our brethren to draw closer to God, so that all of us may together receive God’s eternal life. May God help us in our endeavours and bless us, and may He strengthen our faith and guide us so we may always remain in His path. Amen.

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Friday, 6 May 2016 : Sixth Week of Easter (Gospel Reading)

Liturgical Colour : White

John 16 : 20-23a

At that time, Jesus spoke to His disciples at the Last Supper, “Truly, I say to you, you will weep and mourn while the world rejoices. You will be sorrowful, but your sorrow will turn to joy. A woman in childbirth is in distress because her time is at hand. But after the child is born, she no longer remembers her suffering because of such great joy : a human being is born into the world.”

“You feel sorrowful now, but I will see you again, and your hearts will rejoice; and no one will take your joy from you. When that day comes you will not ask Me anything.”

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Friday, 6 May 2016 : Sixth Week of Easter (Psalm)

Liturgical Colour : White

Psalm 46 : 2-3, 4-5, 6-7

Clap your hands, all you peoples; acclaim God with shouts of joy. For the Lord, the Most High, is to be feared; He is a great King all over the earth.

He brings peoples under our dominion and puts nations under our feet. He chose our inheritance for us – the pride of Jacob whom He loves!

God ascends amid joyful shouts, the Lord amid trumpet blasts. Sing praises to God, sing praises! Sing praises to our King, sing praises!

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Friday, 6 May 2016 : Sixth Week of Easter (First Reading)

Liturgical Colour : White

Acts 18 : 9-18

One night, in a vision, the Lord said to Paul, “Do not be afraid, but continue speaking and do not be silent, for many people in this city are Mine. I am with you, so no one will harm you.” So Paul stayed a year and a half in that place, teaching the word of God among them.

When Gallio was governor of Achaia, the Jews made a united attack on Paul and brought him before the court. And they accused him, “This man tries to persuade us to worship God in ways that are against the Law.”

Paul was about to speak in his own defence when Gallio said to the Jews, “If it were a matter of misdeed or vicious crime, I would have to consider your complaint.” But since this is a quarrel about teachings and divine names that are proper to your own law, see to it yourselves : I refuse to judge such matters.” And he sent them out of the court.

Then the people seized Sosthenes, a leading man of the synagogue, and beat him in front of the tribunal; but Gallio paid no attention to it. Paul stayed on with the disciples in Corinth for many days; he then left them and sailed off with Priscilla and Aquila for Syria. And as he was no longer under a vow he had taken, he shaved his head before sailing from Cenchreae.