7th Sunday of Easter

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Sunday, 21 May 2023 : Solemnity of the Ascension of the Lord (Second Reading)

Liturgical Colour : White

Ephesians 1 : 17-23

May the God of Christ Jesus our Lord, the Father of Glory, reveal Himself to you and give you a spirit of wisdom and revelation, that you may know Him. May He enlighten your inner vision, that you may appreciate the things we hope for, since we were called by God.

May you know how great is the inheritance, the glory, God sets apart for His saints; may you understand with what extraordinary power He acts in favour of us who believe. He revealed His Almighty power in Christ when He raised Him from the dead and had Him sit at His right hand in heaven, far above all rule, power, authority, dominion, or any other supernatural force that could be named, not only in this world but in the world to come as well.

Thus has God put all things under the feet of Christ and set Him above all things, as Head of the Church which is His Body, the fullness of Him Who fills all in all.

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Sunday, 21 May 2023 : Solemnity of the Ascension of the Lord (Psalm)

Liturgical Colour : White

Psalm 46 : 2-3, 6-7, 8-9

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

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.

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Sunday, 21 May 2023 : Solemnity of the Ascension of the Lord (First Reading)

Liturgical Colour : White

Acts 1 : 1-11

In the first part of my work, Theophilus, I wrote of all that Jesus did and taught from the beginning until the day when He ascended to heaven. But first He had instructed through the Holy Spirit, the Apostles He had chosen. After His passion, He presented Himself to them, giving many signs that He was alive, over a period of forty days He appeared to them and taught them concerning the kingdom of God.

Once when He had been eating with them, He told them, “Do not leave Jerusalem, but wait for the fulfilment of the Father’s promise about which I have spoken to you : John baptised with water, but you will be baptised with the Holy Spirit within a few days.”

When they had come together, they asked Him, “Is it now that You will restore the Kingdom of Israel?” And He answered, “It is not for you to know the time and the steps that the Father has fixed by His own authority. But you will receive power when the Holy Spirit comes upon you; and you will be My witnesses in Jerusalem, throughout Judea and Samaria, even to the ends of the earth.”

After Jesus said this, He was taken up before their eyes and a cloud hid Him from their sight. While they were still looking up to heaven where He went, suddenly, two men dressed in white stood beside them, and said, “Men of Galilee, why do you stand here looking up at the sky? This Jesus Who has been taken from you into heaven, will return in the same way as you have seen Him go there.”

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Sunday, 21 May 2023 : Seventh Sunday of Easter, World Social Communications Sunday (Homily and Scripture Reflections)

Liturgical Colour : White

Dear brothers and sisters in Christ, this Sunday all of us are reminded first and foremost of the need for all of us as Christians to be in communication with the Lord our most loving God and Father. And it is not a coincidence that this Sunday, the seventh one in the season of Easter, we also mark the occasion of the World Communications Sunday or the World Social Communications Sunday. On this Sunday, we keep in mind the importance of communication, especially with regards to the communication that we should have with the Lord, our most loving God. The Lord has always loved us and each one of us have always been so fortunate to be beloved in such a manner by God. Yet, many of us have not spent the time to reach out to the Lord and we have often forgotten about Him, ignored His love and attention towards us.

We often refused to embrace His love, hardened our hearts and minds against Him, turning a blind eye and a deaf ear to His constant efforts in reaching out to us, in all the love that He has continuously shown us, all these while. The Lord has sent us His own beloved Son, incarnate in the flesh, the Son and Divine Word of God, Who came into our midst so that we may behold the fullness of God’s love manifested in the flesh. Through Him, all of us have experienced the presence of God so close to us, and it is part of His ever enduring desire to reach out to us, to communicate with us and to be with us all. He went through all these because He truly cares for each one of us, and wants us to be freed from the bondage due to our many sins and wickedness. He does not want us to fall into eternal damnation.

Hence, that is why He taught us all how to pray, like what we heard in our Gospel passage today. We heard the Lord Jesus speaking in prayer to His heavenly Father, glorifying and thanking Him in all that He had done, and in all of His wonders and glory. He also commended and entrusted His disciples and followers to His care and providence, asking Him to protect and guide them, to bless them and to be with them just as He has been with them. The Lord has always thought about us and He therefore asked His heavenly Father to bless us and to give us the strength and the courage, and through Him, the Father has sent unto us the Holy Spirit to be our guide and strength, leading us all to Himself. The Lord Jesus Himself has often communicated with His Father, spending time in prayer and in quiet solace, showing us what it truly means to communicate with our loving God and Father.

We may wonder why is it that Jesus Christ, our Lord, the Son of God Himself, had the need to communicate or pray to His heavenly Father. First of all, that is because it shows us how the Son and the Father are always in harmony, together with the Holy Spirit, in a perfect unity of the Three Divine Persons in one Godhead, the Most Holy Trinity. Not only that, but as the Son of God, He is also at the same time, the Son of Man, born to be one like us, sharing in our human likeness and nature, so that by being the Son of the Father, He may share with us all the same identity as sons and daughters, for each one of us so that we truly can call God as our Father as well. That is why, all of us call ourselves as brothers and sisters in Christ, the same children of our most loving God and Father.

Now, as we heard in our first reading today from the Acts of the Apostles, we heard how the Apostles themselves spent time in prayer as they came back from witnessing the Lord’s glorious Ascension into Heaven, and while waiting for the coming of the Holy Spirit. They all prayed seeking guidance from God and remaining in communication with Him, listening to Him speaking in their hearts and minds, and once the Holy Spirit came down upon them at Pentecost, they kept on praying and spending time to attune themselves with God, a connection ever strengthened by the Holy Spirit guiding them, as well as through their constant prayerful life and actions. The examples of these early Christians, our holy predecessors ought to become inspiration and good examples for each one of us to follow just as we ourselves seek to live our lives worthily of the Lord.

How about us then, brothers and sisters in Christ? As we commemorate this World Communications Sunday today, let us ask ourselves and remind ourselves whether we have already done what we should as Christians, first and foremost in communicating with God our Father? Many of us are often so busy and preoccupied with so many things in life that we may have forgotten about God, sidelining Him from our lives and ignoring Him. To not few among us, prayer is something done just as a last resort when all hope is lost, or that we desire that God must do something on our behalf, or for our own benefits. While it is indeed right for us to trust the Lord and ask Him for assistance and help, however, demanding for Him to do something for us and to help us is not alright at all. Unfortunately, that is often how many of us prayed, and instead of genuine communication which is what a prayer truly is, our prayers become litanies of supplications and demands.

We become angry when our prayers are not answered or when it seemed that God did not listen to our prayers, requests or desires. But we forget one important and most fundamental fact that the Lord was in no way answerable to us or obliged to answer us or give us what we demanded of Him. This is what happened when we do not have a strong and genuine faith in Him, and when our faith and commitment to Him is truly fleeting and temporary in nature, that prevented us from truly being able to grow into a truly wonderful, strong and enduring relationship with our most loving God and Father. When we pray and seek the Lord only when we have need for Him, then it is not truly building relationship with God, brothers and sisters in Christ. All of us have to strive to build a strong and lasting relationship with God, one that endures through even the most difficult moments and challenges.

And as Christians, all of us are also encouraged to build up strong and genuine relationships with our fellow Christians, our brothers and sisters in the same Lord, our God and Father. Our Christian faith is not something that thrives in isolation, as we need to be part of a vibrant and living Christian community, all in good communication and contact with each other, so that we may indeed become closer to each other and grow to love and care for our fellow brethren, just as the Lord has commanded all of us to do. Our Christian faith and obligation requires us to spend time not just with God but also with our fellow brethren, to communicate with them meaningfully and to develop strong, living and enduring relationships, through which we will become ever more enriched and stronger in faith and dedication to the Lord.

Let us all therefore do our best so that we may grow ever better in how we communicate with God through prayers and other means, and also how we communicate with each other, by spending quality time with those who are important and dear to us, and also spending time and effort to interact meaningfully and lovingly with one another, to our beloved ones, in our families and among our friends, and also with the strangers and acquaintances whom we encounter each day. Let us all do this, and commit ourselves to be effective communicators, knowing that by our exemplary lives and good communication skills, we may truly proclaim the Lord and His truth to more and more people from all the nations. May the Lord continue to guide and bless each one of us in our efforts to glorify Him, in each and every moments. Amen.

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Sunday, 21 May 2023 : Seventh Sunday of Easter, World Social Communications Sunday (Gospel Reading)

Liturgical Colour : White

John 17 : 1-11a

At that time, after Jesus said all that He had said to His disciples, He lifted up His eyes to heaven and said, “Father, the hour has come! Give glory to Your Son, that the Son may give glory to You. You have given Him power over all humanity, so that He may give eternal life to all those You entrusted to Him. For this is eternal life : to know You, the only true God, and the One You sent, Jesus Christ.”

“I have glorified You on earth and finished the work that You gave Me to do. Now, Father, give Me, in Your presence, the same glory I had with You before the world began. I have made Your Name known to those You gave Me from the world. They were Yours, and You gave them to Me, and they kept Your word. And now they know that whatever You entrusted to Me, is indeed from You.”

“I have given them the teaching I received from You, and they received it, and know in truth that I came from You; and they believe that You sent Me. I pray for them. I do not pray for the world, but for those who belong to You, and whom You have given to Me. Indeed all I have is Yours and all You have is Mine; and now they are My glory.”

“I am no longer in the world, but they are in the world, and I come to You.”

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Sunday, 21 May 2023 : Seventh Sunday of Easter, World Social Communications Sunday (Second Reading)

Liturgical Colour : White

1 Peter 4 : 13-16

Instead, you should be glad to share in the sufferings of Christ because, on the day His Glory is revealed, you will also fully rejoice. You are fortunate if you are insulted because of the Name of Christ, for the Spirit of glory rests on you.

I suppose that none of you should suffer for being a murderer, a thief, a criminal or an informer; but if anyone suffers on account of being a Christian, do not consider it a disgrace; rather let this Name bring glory to God.

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Sunday, 21 May 2023 : Seventh Sunday of Easter, World Social Communications Sunday (Psalm)

Liturgical Colour : White

Psalm 26 : 1, 4, 7-8a

The Lord is my Light and my Salvation – whom shall I fear? The Lord is the Rampart of my life; I will not be afraid.

One thing I ask of the Lord, one thing I seek – that I may dwell in His house all the days of my life, to gaze at His jewel and to visit His sanctuary.

Hear my voice when I call, o Lord, have mercy on me and answer. My heart says to You, “I seek Your face, o Lord.”

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Sunday, 21 May 2023 : Seventh Sunday of Easter, World Social Communications Sunday (First Reading)

Liturgical Colour : White

Acts 1 : 12-14

Then they returned to Jerusalem from the Mount called Olives, which is a fifteen minute walk away. On entering the city they went to the room upstairs where they were staying. Present there were Peter, John, James and Andrew; Philip and Thomas, Bartholomew and Matthew, James, son of Alpheus; Simon the Zealot and Judas son of James.

All of these, together, gave themselves to constant prayer. With them were some women, and also Mary, the mother of Jesus, and His brothers.

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Sunday, 9 June 2019 : Solemnity of Pentecost Sunday (Homily and Scripture Reflections)

Liturgical Colour : Red

Dear brothers and sisters in Christ, on this Sunday we celebrate the great occasion of the Pentecost Sunday, marking the end of the fifty glorious days of Easter. On this day we mark the time when the Holy Spirit came down on the Apostles and the disciples of the Lord just as He has promised to them, giving them the courage and the strength to be witnesses to their faith in God. They received the gift of the Holy Spirit strengthening their heart and mind, body and soul.

The great celebration of Pentecost therefore also marks the beginning of the Church, as the tangible Body of Christ in this world that He Himself had established and founded upon the secure foundation and support of the Apostles. That was because the moment the Holy Spirit entered into their hearts, the Holy Spirit strengthened them and they spoke up freely of their faith and convinced many to become believers.

Three thousand people were baptised on that day alone, and that became the beginning of the Church community, which from then on began to grow and spread throughout all over Judea, and not just Judea but gradually throughout the entire Roman Empire itself and beyond. That is why, brothers and sisters in Christ, it is very important that all of us to know that Easter does not truly end with Pentecost, but in fact continues further beyond Pentecost.

The Pentecost marks a new beginning for the faithful, the continuation of the Easter joy of the Lord’s Resurrection which now becomes the expectation and the joy of looking forward to our own glorious Resurrection to come. And what is known as the Ordinary Time after this celebration of the Pentecost is in fact nothing ordinary at all, for it is the time for the work of the Church to be carried out, continuing the joy of Easter as the Lord has commanded us all.

And in the Gospel passage today, the Lord gave us all clearly His commandments through His disciples. He has once revealed His laws and commandments through Moses, in what was known as the Ten Commandments. And then, He explained and revealed more completely and fully the true meaning of the commandments by what the Lord Jesus stated to His disciples, that is the commandments of love.

It was love that the Lord showed to His people, all of us when He gave us His own Son to be our Saviour and Deliverance from our sins and death. It was love that allowed Him to bear the full weight of the Cross, the incomparably heavy and massive burden of all of our sins, enduring immense pain and suffering for the sake of our salvation. It was love that allowed Him to go through all of that, and through His love, our salvation was made whole and complete.

Yet, He continued to love us even more, sending us the Holy Spirit to be our source of strength and power, amidst the difficulties and challenges we may have to face in this world, the opposition from all those who refused to believe in God, from those who oppressed the Church and persecuted the Lord’s faithful ones. The Holy Spirit brought with Him the power of God’s own love into our midst, into our hearts, allowing the seeds of faith, hope and love in us to grow and germinate.

Yes, to all of us God has given His gifts of faith, hope and love, and the most important of these three is love. For there can be no true faith without love, and there can be no true hope without love. We believe in the love which God has for each and every one of us, and we love Him that we have faith in Him, and we hope in Him because of the love which He has evidently shown us, we can be confident that He is always by our side and will never abandon us.

And for us to grow in God’s grace and favour, we need to have love in each and every one of us. It is love for God, first and foremost before all else, which is the essence of the Commandments of God. If God has loved us all so much and gave us everything we need, life being the foremost of all gifts He has given, then how can we not love God in the same way? God ought to be at the very centre of our very lives and in everything we do.

If we love God then naturally we should also show the same love to our fellow brethren. If we do not love our fellow brothers and sisters then we cannot truly call ourselves as people who love God, because God loves each and every single one of us without exception, from the least to the greatest amongst us, from the most wicked and greatest sinners to the most pious and holy persons. Everyone is equally loved by God.

It is only through love that the gifts of the Holy Spirit will bear fruits in us, the good fruits of love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness and self-control, the fruits of the Holy Spirit. If our every words, actions and deeds, our interactions with one another and indeed, our every breaths and moments are filled with love, not selfish love for ourselves but genuine love for God and for others, then naturally all those fruits of the Holy Spirit will flourish in us.

That was what the Apostles themselves had done. Their love and dedication for God, inflamed into a strong fire by the Holy Spirit has allowed them to do what was seemingly impossible and unlikely just before the moment the Holy Spirit came to them. Where there was fear and doubt in the hearts and minds of the Apostles before, so much so that they hid fearfully from the Jewish authorities, they went forth courageously afterwards filled with love for both God and for their fellow men.

That was the love which inflamed them and helped them to endure many bitter sufferings and persecutions which they and the faithful people of God had to endure, the many martyrs and saints of the Church. The same Holy Spirit was also given to the faithful by the laying of the hands, and as a result, the Holy Spirit of God has always been in the midst of the wonderful works of the Church from the very beginning until this very day.

Brothers and sisters in Christ, now, it is our turn to continue the good works which God has begun in the Apostles, and we are called to follow in their footsteps, for the same Holy Spirit has been given to us at Baptism, and strengthened in us through the Sacrament of Confirmation for all of us who have received that Sacrament. And having received the Holy Spirit and God’s presence in us, are we able and willing to commit ourselves to love God and our fellow men as the Apostles had done?

Let us all contribute our effort, our time and our abilities to be part of the good works of the Church that is still ongoing in fulfilling the mission which God has entrusted to His Church, the conversion and of all of His beloved people, all of us sons and daughters of man. Let us all by our own faith, love and devotion to God become inspiration and examples for each other, and become shining models of God’s love through us, that all who see us and what we say and do, will believe in God as well.

Come, Holy Spirit, fill the hearts of Your people, that we will be filled with courage and strength to carry out our mission with faith and conviction. Come, Holy Spirit, inflame us all with Your love and strength. Let us all go forth and continue to proclaim the joy of Easter, of Christ’s Resurrection and salvation to all the peoples, from now on and forevermore. Amen.

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Sunday, 9 June 2019 : Solemnity of Pentecost Sunday (Gospel Reading)

Liturgical Colour : Red

John 14 : 15-16, 23b-26

At that time, Jesus said to His disciples, “If you love Me, you will keep My commandments; and I will ask the Father, and He will give you another Helper to be with you forever. If anyone loves Me, he will keep My word and My Father will love him; and We will come to him and make a room in his home.”

“But if anyone does not love Me, he will not keep My words; and these words that you hear are not Mine, but the Father’s Who sent Me. I told you all this while I was still with you. From now on the Helper, the Holy Spirit Whom the Father will send in My Name, will teach you all things, and remind you of all that I have told you.”