Alleluia

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Thursday, 5 June 2014 : 7th Week of Easter, Memorial of St. Boniface, Bishop and Martyr (First Reading)

Liturgical Colour : Red (Martyrs)

Acts 22 : 30 and Acts 23 : 6-11

The next day the commander wanted to know for certain the charges the Jews were making against Paul. So he released him from prison and called together the High Priest and the whole Council; and they brought Paul down and made him stand before them.

Paul knew part of the Council were Sadducees and the others Pharisees; so he spoke out in the Council, “Brothers, I am a Pharisee, son of a Pharisee. It is for the hope in the resurrection of the dead that I am on trial here.”

At these words, an argument broke out between the Pharisees and the Sadducees and the whole assembly was divided. For the Sadducees claim that there is neither resurrection, nor angels nor spirits, while the Pharisees acknowledge all these things.

Then the shouting grew louder, and some teachers of the Law of the Pharisee party protested, “We find nothing wrong with this man. Maybe a spirit or an angel has spoken to him.” With this the argument became so violent that the commander feared that Paul would be torn to pieces by them. He therefore ordered the soldiers to go down and rescue him from their midst and take him back to the fortress.

That night the Lord stood by Paul and said, “Courage! As you have borne witness to Me here in Jerusalem, so must you do in Rome.”

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Wednesday, 4 June 2014 : 7th Week of Easter (Scripture Reflections)

Liturgical Colour : White

Brothers and sisters in Christ, Jesus our Lord is our Shepherd, and He is always on the watch. Never for even a single moment He let His sight away from us, for He cares for us and He will not want us to be lost in the darkness of the world, and indeed, in that darkness, the wolves, that is Satan and his fellow fallen angels await to see when mankind, the sheep and flock of the Lord are at their most vulnerable moments, and then strike to drag them into the eternal darkness and damnation.

As our Shepherd, and the Good Shepherd, He is someone who truly loves and is dedicated to us, His sheep, and He will not let us to fall into the hands of the devil and his agents, who are trying all the time to steal us away from our Shepherd and drag us together with them into damnation and eternal suffering in hell. That is the aim of those forces arrayed against us, and we should always be vigilant.

Our Shepherd is always with us, ever since He dedicated Himself completely to us through His sacrifice on the cross. He gave Himself out of His love for us mankind, and as our Shepherd and a good shepherd, He cares for us sincerely and unconditionally, even unto giving up His life for His sheep. This is what we are taught and what we have with us as our assurance of faith. God our Shepherd is always with us.

The wolves are always watching and waiting for moments of weakness, when we are most vulnerable to snatch us, and we know these from the moments in our lives when we feel dejected, when we feel sad and sorrowful in our daily lives, when we are met with failure, and even when we meet successes in life and glory, when we allow ourselves to be open to Satan and his agents to enter into our hearts and therefore into our lives.

There are these moments when we put our guard down, when we feel weak in the faith, and especially those moments when we feel that the Lord is not with us, and we question whether He even cares for us or loves us, for He is not apparently there for us when we need Him very much. But this is the persuasions and temptations of the devil, my friends, for the devil whispered lies in our ears and in our hearts, that the Lord is not with us, because we cannot see Him and feel His presence around us.

But this is false, brethren, for our Lord is truly beside us, and He watches over us all the time, and all that we need to do, is to open ourselves to the Lord and let His love and care for us to flow freely into us, and we surely can feel His works all around us, all of which are meant to keep us safe from the forces of Satan, that is the wolves trying to rip us apart from the loving embrace of our God.

We often do not realise how much our Lord loves us, and we often think that we ourselves are all that we need in this world. And in this, we breed our ego and pride, allowing them to flourish and become fertile ground for the devil to spread his seeds of rebelliousness and disobedience within us. This we cannot allow, brothers and sisters in Christ, for we must not allow even any inch of our hearts and minds to be taken over by the evil one, or we will go astray and be lost.

Let us all from now on, reflect on the love which our Lord has for us. In our breath, every single breath that we take in life, and every help He has placed on our way, our priests and those who minister the Gospel to us. Yes, all these are the manifestations of God’s eternal love and care for us, and which He showed foremost through none other than Jesus Christ, who became one of us, to be our Shepherd and guide us back on the way to God our Lord and loving Father.

May we grow stronger in our faith and devotion to our Lord and Shepherd, that from now on we will heed only the leads of our loving Saviour, and disregard all the dissenting voices and disobedience which Satan has taught us and planted in our hearts ever since the days of our ancestors. May the Lord continue to be with us, all the days of our life and keep us always firmly in His love. God bless us always. Amen.

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Wednesday, 4 June 2014 : 7th Week of Easter (Gospel Reading)

Liturgical Colour : White

John 17 : 11b-19

Holy Father, keep those You have given Me in Your Name, so that they may be one, as We also are.

When I was with them, I kept them safe in Your Name; and not one was lost, except the one who was already lost, and in this the Scripture was fulfilled. And now I come to You; in the world I speak these things, so that those whom You gave Me, might have joy – all My joy within themselves.

I have given them Your word; and the world has hated them, because they are not of the world, just as I am not of the world, I do not ask You to remove them from the world, but to keep them from the evil one. They are not of the world, just as I am not of the world. Consecrate them in the truth. Your word is truth.

I have sent them into the world as You sent Me into the world; and for their sake, I go to the sacrifice by which I am consecrated, so that they too may be consecrated in truth.

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Wednesday, 4 June 2014 : 7th Week of Easter (Psalm)

Liturgical Colour : White

Psalm 67 : 29-30, 33-35a, 35b-36c

Summon Your power, o God, with the strength You have wielded for us. To Your Temple in Jerusalem, kings will come with gifts.

Sing to God, o kingdoms of the world; sing praises to the Lord, to Him who rides the ancient heavens and speak in the voice of thunder. Proclaim the might of God.

He is great in Israel, powerful on heavens. Awesome in His sanctuary is the God of Israel. He gives His people power and strength. Blessed be God!

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Wednesday, 4 June 2014 : 7th Week of Easter (First Reading)

Liturgical Colour : White

Acts 20 : 28-38

Paul said, “Keep watch over yourselves and over the whole flock the Holy Spirit has placed into your care. Shepherd the Church of the Lord that He has won at the price of His own blood. I know that after I leave, ruthless wolves will come among you and not spare the flock. And from among you, some will arise corrupting the truth and inducing the disciples to follow them.”

“Be on the watch, therefore, remembering that for three years, night and day, I did not cease to warn everyone even with tears. Now I commend you to God and to His grace-filled word, which is able to make you grow and gain the inheritance that you shall share with all the saints.”

“I have not looked for anyone’s silver, gold or clothing. You yourselves know that these hands of mine have provided for both my needs and the needs of those who were with me. In every way I have shown you that by working hard one must help the weak, remembering the words that the Lord Jesus Himself said, ‘Happiness lies more in giving than in receiving.'”

After this discourse, Paul knelt down with them and prayed. Then they all began to weep and threw their arms around him and kissed him. They were deeply distressed because he had said that they would never see him again. And they went with him even to the ship.

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Tuesday, 3 June 2014 : 7th Week of Easter, Memorial of St. Charles Lwanga and Companions, Martyrs (Scripture Reflections)

Liturgical Colour : Red (Martyrs)

Dear brothers and sisters in Christ, today we heard the continuation of the prayer of Jesus for His disciples, for all mankind and for the world. Jesus made clear to all of His disciples of the truth about all things on Himself and all the things that He had come into this world for. He made clear to all mankind that it is through Him all salvation will come from, and no one can reach the Lord other than through Himself.

God has given all to His Son, Jesus Christ, that in Him can be found hope and redemption. And it is this that we believe in and treasure as our faith. Jesus has given His all in order to save mankind, which was His mission upon coming into the world. Despite the difficulties and the challenges that He faced, He obeyed the will of the Father perfectly and thus bring glory to God and redemption to mankind.

Today’s readings are both about those who are about to face danger and peril, and in both cases, indeed they would face a violent death in the end. As we know and heard, Jesus in the Gospel today was praying for His disciples, and He did this during the time after the Last Supper just before He went through His Passion and suffer for our sake, and died on the cross.

In the first reading, St. Paul also showed his anguish, having been accused and resisted by many of those whom he had been sent to work with, and he was also about to be judged in Jerusalem, after having been arrested and sent back for judgment by the authorities. We know that eventually St. Paul would appeal to the Roman Emperor and asked to be judged in Rome, where he would eventually meet his end, by beheading on the order of the Emperor Nero, who instigated the first official persecution of the faithful and blame them for the fire of Rome.

But both of them did not fear the persecution and death they were to face. Instead, they welcomed death openly without fear, and they continued to work for the Lord’s sake all the way till the end. St. Paul continued to minister along his way to Rome, converting many to the Lord, including those in Malta and in Rome itself. And Jesus as we all know, healed the severed ear of the servant of the High Priest, Malchus, and He forgave those who condemned Him to death, on the cross itself.

This is an attitude and a way of life which we all should emulate in our own lives, that is to truly bring about a genuine and living faith in each one of us. We have to be like St. Paul and Jesus in their mission that they carried in complete faith to God the Father. And today, we celebrate the feast of St. Charles Lwanga and his companions, holy men who did not fear or hesitate to defend their faith unto death, and worked for the sake of the Gospel.

St. Charles Lwanga was born in what is today modern day Uganda in south-central part of Africa, and he was born into the then kingdom of Buganda, which still practiced animism and abhorrent practices, especially wicked sexual practices and perversions prevalent at that time, particularly those committed by the king of Buganda himself.

St. Charles Lwanga had quite a high and significant position in the court of the king, and while the whole court and country was made to reaffirm their paganistic beliefs and cast out Christianity, which when this happened just about one and a half decades ago, the faith of the One True God began to enter into Buganda and converted many to the true faith.

St. Charles Lwanga himself secretly converted to the faith and through his works in secrecy, he managed to convert many people, especially many convicts and others who then joined the true faith together with St. Charles Lwanga. But the end came for him, when he chose to stand by his faith, when the king’s sexual perversion and debauchery went bad and by persuading the victims of the king to adopt the faith and resist the king’s influences, St. Charles Lwanga and some others were punished and tortured, and were finally executed.

St. Charles Lwanga stayed faithful to the end, and publicly showed his faith to others, and even praying over his executors as they tortured him, hoping that they too will be baptised and receive the faith as he had done. His faith and devotion to the faith was truly commendable, and we too should be inspired by what he has done.

Our faith must be strong and vibrant, and we cannot be idle. We have to stand fast by the Lord’s side and not be afraid of rejection or persecution by the world or others disagreeable to our faith, that is those who are still in the darkness of Satan and the world. Let us all be courageous, and be inspired by St. Charles Lwanga and his companions, the Ugandan martyrs, in their faith, so that we may grow ever more worthy of the Lord and be righteous before Him.

May God be with us all, and may St. Charles Lwanga intercede for us together with his companions in heaven. May God help us all. Amen.

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Tuesday, 3 June 2014 : 7th Week of Easter, Memorial of St. Charles Lwanga and Companions, Martyrs (Gospel Reading)

Liturgical Colour : Red (Martyrs)

John 17 : 1-11a

After saying this, Jesus 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 that 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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Tuesday, 3 June 2014 : 7th Week of Easter, Memorial of St. Charles Lwanga and Companions, Martyrs (Psalm)

Liturgical Colour : Red (Martyrs)

Psalm 67 : 10-11, 20-21

Then You gave a rain of blessings to comfort Your weary children. Your people found a dwelling and in Your mercy, o God, You provided for the needy.

Blessed be the Lord, God our Saviour, who daily bears our burdens! Ours is a God who saves; our Lord lets us escape from death.

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Tuesday, 3 June 2014 : 7th Week of Easter, Memorial of St. Charles Lwanga and Companions, Martyrs (First Reading)

Liturgical Colour : Red (Martyrs)

Acts 20 : 17-27

From Miletus Paul sent word to Ephesus, summoning the elders of the Church. When they came to Him, he addressed them, “You know how I lived among you from the first day I set foot in the province of Asia, how I served the Lord in humility through the sorrows and trials that the Jews caused me.”

“You know that I never held back from doing anything that could be useful for you; I spoke publicly and in your homes and I urged Jews and non-Jews alike to turn to God and believe in our Lord Jesus.”

“But now I am going to Jerusalem, chained by the Spirit, without knowing what will happen to me there. Yet in every city the Holy Spirit warns me that imprisonment and troubles await me. Indeed I put no value on my life, if only I can finish my race and complete the service to which I have been assigned by the Lord Jesus, to announce the Good News of God’s grace.”

“I now feel sure that none of you among whom I have gone about proclaiming the kingdom of God will ever see me again. Therefore I declare to you this day that my conscience is clear with regard to all of you. For I have spared no effort in fully declaring to you God’s will.”

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Monday, 2 June 2014 : 7th Week of Easter, Memorial of St. Marcellinus and St. Peter, Martyrs (Scripture Reflections)

Liturgical Colour : White or Red (Martyrs)

Brothers and sisters in Christ, we indeed believe in God and we put our trust in Him. However, as we all witnessed in our own lives, and in today’s Scripture readings, we know that things are not always good and nice to us all the time. There will be moments of difficulties and challenges that we will need to overcome, and opposition and resistance will always be a part and parcel of our lives.

Today we celebrate the feasts of two saints and martyrs of the faith, who are truly renowned in the Church, that of St. Marcellinus and St. Peter, both of whom received their martyrdom in the early fourth century, three hundred years after the birth of Christ. They went through one of the most intense period of persecution of the faithful, done by the Roman Emperor Diocletian, the last of the systematic and thorough persecution of the faithful people of God.

Although not much informations from their era remained to tell us greater and more about their tales and life stories, but through the Church, which preserved the knowledge about them, the two saints and martyrs were faithful servants of God, as both a preacher and for the case of St. Peter, an exorcist who cast out demons and evil spirits. They went around proclaiming the Good News through words, deeds and actions.

However, at that time, the Roman Empire had not yet accepted Christianity, and to live as a Christian at that time, and in many of the preceding years, decades and centuries, it was best to keep it secret and well-hidden the fact that someone was a Christian, or else from various quarters, persecutions and oppositions against them, often ending in violent deaths, would happen.

These martyrs lived at a time when the most infamous and destructive of the persecutions happened, the Diocletian persecution, when Christians were literally hunted throughout the Empire for maintaining their faith. These persecutions occurred in waves of intensive and efficient hunt for the faithful, destroying their Scriptures wherever they can be found.

That was indeed a tough and trying time to be faithful and to be identified as such, but St. Marcellinus and St. Peter remained true to their calling, and continued to serve the people of God despite the obvious threats to their lives. They did not fear death or persecution, because they know that God is with them and ultimately that their lives belong to God.

They did not fear death or evil, also because the Lord through His Holy Spirit is in them. They received the Holy Spirit through baptism and the laying of the hands on their heads by the successors of the Apostles of Christ, and this empowered them to go on with their arduous and challenging ministry. Yet they did not give up because the Spirit gave them strength.

We too, brothers and sisters in Christ, have received the Holy Spirit and the grace of God through our baptism and our confirmation in the faith, and we therefore have been similarly empowered to be ministers of the Gospel and His servants in this world much like St. Marcellinus and St. Peter, who had ministered without fear and doubt, even when faced with persecution and certain death.

Brethren, the devil hates us all, and he will certainly do everything within his power to strike at us, just as he had once done to the holy martyrs both in Rome and in other places where the faithful faced grievous persecutions. Let us all be strong and be inspired by the examples of St. Marcellinus and St. Peter, who had courageously defended their faith before God and before His people.

May God strengthen us, guide us, and be with us always, that we may bring glory to Him and save many souls from the darkness of the evil one in this world and together reach out to salvation in the Lord. God bless us all. Amen.