Apostles of Jesus Christ

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Friday, 22 February 2019 : Feast of the Chair of St. Peter the Apostle (Gospel Reading)

Liturgical Colour : White

Matthew 16 : 13-19

At that time, Jesus came to Caesarea Philippi. He asked His disciples, “Who do people say the Son of Man is?” They said, “For some of them You are John the Baptist, for others Elijah, or Jeremiah, or one of the prophets.”

Jesus asked them, “But you, who do you say I am?” Peter answered, “You are the Messiah, the Son of the living God.” Jesus replied, “It is well for you, Simon Bar-Jona, for it is not flesh or blood that has revealed this to you, but My Father in heaven.”

“And now I say to you : You are Peter, and on this rock I will build My Church; and never will the powers of death overcome it. I will give you the keys of the kingdom of heaven : whatever you bind on earth shall be bound in heaven, and whatever you unbind on earth shall be unbound in heaven.”

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Friday, 22 February 2019 : Feast of the Chair of St. Peter the Apostle (Psalm)

Liturgical Colour : White

Psalm 22 : 1-3a, 3b-4, 5, 6

The Lord is my Shepherd, I shall not want. He makes me lie down in green pastures. He leads me beside the still waters. He restores my soul.

He guides me through the right paths for His Name’s sake. Although I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, I fear no evil, for You are beside me : Your rod and Your staff comfort me.

You spread a table before me in the presence of my foes. You anoint my head with oil; my cup is overflowing.

Goodness and kindness will follow me all the days of my life. I shall dwell in the house of the Lord as long as I live.

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Friday, 22 February 2019 : Feast of the Chair of St. Peter the Apostle (First Reading)

Liturgical Colour : White

1 Peter 5 : 1-4

I now address myself to those elders among you; I, too, am an elder and a witness to the sufferings of Christ, hoping to share the Glory that is to be revealed.

Shepherd the flock which God has entrusted to you, guarding it not out of obligation but willingly for God’s sake; not as one looking for a reward but with a generous heart; do not lord it over those in your care, rather be an example to your flock.

Then, when the Chief Shepherd appears, you will be given a crown of unfading glory.

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Sunday, 10 February 2019 : Fifth Sunday of Ordinary Time (Second Reading)

Liturgical Colour : Green

1 Corinthians 15 : 1-11

Let me remind you, brothers and sisters, of the Good News that I preached to you and which you received and on which you stand firm. By that Gospel you are saved, provided that you hold to it as I preached it. Otherwise, you will have believed in vain.

In the first place, I have passed on to you what I myself received that Christ died for our sins, as Scripture says; that He was buried; that He was raised on the third day, according to the Scriptures; that He appeared to Cephas and then to the Twelve. Afterwards He appeared to more than five hundred brothers and sisters together; most of them are still alive, although some have already gone to rest.

Then He appeared to James and after that to all the Apostles. And last of all, He appeared to the most despicable of them, this is to me. For I am the last of the Apostles, and I do not even deserve to be called an Apostle, because I persecuted the Church of God. Nevertheless, by the grace of God, I am what I am, and His grace toward me has not been without fruit. Far from it, I have toiled more than all of them, although, not I, rather the grace of God, in me.

Now, whether it was I or they, this, we preach, and this, you have believed.

Alternative reading (shorter version)

1 Corinthians 15 : 3-8, 11

In the first place, I have passed on to you what I myself received that Christ died for our sins, as Scripture says; that He was buried; that He was raised on the third day, according to the Scriptures; that He appeared to Cephas and then to the Twelve. Afterwards He appeared to more than five hundred brothers and sisters together; most of them are still alive, although some have already gone to rest.

Then He appeared to James and after that to all the Apostles. And last of all, He appeared to the most despicable of them, this is to me. Now, whether it was I or they, this, we preach, and this, you have believed.

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Saturday, 9 February 2019 : 4th Week of Ordinary Time (Gospel Reading)

Liturgical Colour : Green or White (Saturday Mass of Our Lady)

Mark 6 : 30-34

At that time, the Apostles returned and reported to Jesus all they had done and taught. Then He said to them, “Go off by yourselves to a remote place and have some rest.” For there were so many people coming and going that the Apostles had no time even to eat. And they went away in the boat to a secluded area by themselves.

But people saw them leaving and many could guess where they were going. So, from all the towns, they hurried there on foot, arriving ahead of them. As Jesus went ashore, He saw a large crowd, and He had compassion on them for they were like sheep without a shepherd. And He began a long teaching session with them.

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Thursday, 7 February 2019 : 4th Week of Ordinary Time (Gospel Reading)

Liturgical Colour : Green

Mark 6 : 7-13

At that time, Jesus called the Twelve to Him, and began to send them out two by two, giving them authority over evil spirits, and He ordered them to take nothing for the journey, except a staff : no food, no bag, no money on their belts. They were to wear sandals and were not to take an extra tunic.

And He added, “In whatever house you are welcomed, stay there until you leave the place. If any place does not receive you, and the people refuse to listen to you, leave after shaking the dust off your feet. It will be a testimony against them.”

So they set out to proclaim that this was the time to repent. They drove out many demons and healed many sick people by anointing them.

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Saturday, 19 January 2019 : 1st Week of Ordinary Time, Week of Prayer for Christian Unity (Gospel Reading)

Liturgical Colour : Green or White (Saturday Mass of Our Lady)

Mark 2 : 13-17

At that time, when Jesus went out again beside the lake, a crowd came to Him, and He taught them. As He walked along, He saw a tax collector sitting in his office. This was Levi, the son of Alpheus. Jesus said to him, “Follow Me!” And Levi got up and followed Him.

And it so happened that when Jesus was eating in Levi’s house, tax collectors and sinners sat with Him and His disciples; there were a lot of them, and they used to follow Jesus. But Pharisees, men educated in the Law, when they saw Jesus eating with sinners and tax collectors, said to His disciples, “Why does your Master eat and drink with tax collectors and sinners?”

Jesus heard them, and answered, “Healthy people do not need a doctor, but sick people do. I did not come to call the righteous, but sinners.”

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Friday, 30 November 2018 : Feast of St. Andrew, Apostle (Homily and Scripture Reflections)

Liturgical Colour : Red

Dear brothers and sisters in Christ, today we celebrate together the feast of St. Andrew the Apostle, one of the Twelve Apostles of Our Lord, who was called together with his brother, St. Peter, at the shores of the lake of Galilee from his profession as a fisherman. The four Apostles called that day was St. Peter and St. Andrew, brothers, and the sons of Zebedee, also brothers, St. James the Greater and St. John the Apostle and Evangelist.

St. Andrew was the first to be called among the Apostles, and that was why he is also usually known as St. Andrew the First-Called, and was also probably one of the disciples of St. John the Baptist. In the Gospel, St. John the Baptist baptised Jesus at the Jordan at the beginning of His worldly ministry, and he pointed out to his disciples, “Behold the Lamb of God, Who takes away the sins of the world!”, pointing out the True Messiah of God to them.

And thus St. Andrew came to the Lord and listened to His call, as He called him, his brother and his fellow fishermen, the sons of Zebedee, to follow the path that God has called them into, to be the disciples of Christ, to be His Apostles and the ones through whom, God would come to exercise many of His wondrous works and blessings in this world. They were no longer mere fishermen, but according to the Lord Himself, they became fishers of men.

The Apostles, twelve among them were the closest collaborators and disciples of the Lord, and St. Andrew was one of them. They followed the Lord wherever He went, and listened to His words and teachings. He followed the Lord to His Passion, suffering and death in Jerusalem, and witnessed His glorious resurrection from the dead and ascension into heavenly glory.

And St. Andrew received the commandment from God together with his fellow Apostles and disciples, to go forth to all the nations, and to baptise them in the Name of the Father, Son and the Holy Spirit, and receiving the Holy Spirit at Pentecost, he and the other disciples of the Lord began the evangelising and missionary efforts of the Church. He went to many places in faraway lands, in what is now today Ukraine, Russia and Greece.

He preached the Word of God and the truth of the salvation in Our Lord Jesus Christ to the people living in those places, calling them to believe in God and to turn away from their past ways of sin. He founded several dioceses and communities of the faithful in the places he went to, and eventually he was martyred in Achaea in Greece, crucified on the X-shaped cross, which would later be known as St. Andrew’s cross.

Now, we have just heard how this simple fisherman of Galilee became a great worker and missionary of God, truly fulfilling what the Lord had Himself said, that he and the other disciples would become fishers of men, and they really did. We have witnessed and heard, and probably read and knew the many good works that St. Andrew and the other Apostles had done, in their courageous and tireless deeds and works to serve God and His people.

Brothers and sisters in Christ, surely we realise that God has called everyone to follow Him and to be His disciples. He called those whom He wanted to make worthy and not those who think that they are worthy. That is why He called simple fishermen, prostitutes and tax collectors, sinners and thieves just as He also called on the intellectuals and the righteous. What matters is for us to change our way of life so completely, that we orientate ourselves towards God.

Let us all realise that we are the successors of the Apostles and the disciples of the Lord, in that we have to continue the same mission which God has entrusted to the Apostles and the disciples, in bringing the truth and the salvation of God to more people, of all the nations. We are called to live our lives more faithfully and be living witnesses of the Gospel through our daily living, following in the footsteps of the Apostles themselves.

If the Apostles such as St. Andrew has given his all to dedicate all his efforts to the Lord, then why are we not doing the same? The common answer to this is because of our own pride, our own emotions, temptations in life and all the allures and pressures to abandon the righteous way of the Lord, which have prevented us from giving our all to God. We have also then become more and more distant from God and easier to fall into the traps Satan prepared for us.

Let us all be inspired therefore by the courage and the faith of St. Andrew the Apostle and the many other holy men and women of God, that from now on, for each and every one of us, our lives will be ever more attuned to the Lord and that we will be ever closer to Him. May the Lord continue to watch over us and love us, every days of our life, from now on. May He empower each and every one of us to live faithfully in accordance to His will. May God bless us all, now and forevermore. Amen.

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Friday, 30 November 2018 : Feast of St. Andrew, Apostle (Gospel Reading)

Liturgical Colour : Red

Matthew 4 : 18-22

At that time, as Jesus walked by the lake of Galilee, He saw two brothers, Simon called Peter, and Andrew his brother, casting a net into the lake, for they were fishermen. He said to them, “Come, follow Me; and I will make you fish for people.”

At once they left their nets and followed Him. He went on from there and saw two other brothers, James, the son of Zebedee, and his brother John, in a boat with their father Zebedee, mending their nets. Jesus called them.

At once, they left the boat, and their father, and followed Him.

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Friday, 30 November 2018 : Feast of St. Andrew, Apostle (Psalm)

Liturgical Colour : Red

Psalm 18 : 2-3, 4-5

The heavens declare the glory of God; the firmament proclaims the work of His hands. Day talks it over with day; night hands on the knowledge to night.

No speech, no words, no voice is heard – but the call goes on, throughout the universe, the message is felt to the ends of the earth.