Apostles of Jesus Christ

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Friday, 27 December 2024 : Feast of St. John, Apostle and Evangelist (First Reading)

Liturgical Colour : White

1 John 1 : 1-4

This is what has been from the beginning, and what we have heard and have seen with our own eyes, what we have looked at and touched with our hands, I mean the Word Who is Life…

The Life made Itself known, we have seen Eternal Life and we bear witness, and we are telling you of it. It was with the Father and made Himself known to us. So we tell you what we have seen and heard, that you may be in fellowship with us, and us, with the Father and with His Son, Jesus Christ.

And we write this that our joy may be complete.

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Monday, 28 October 2024 : Feast of St. Simon and St. Jude, Apostles (Homily and Scripture Reflections)

Liturgical Colour : Red

Dear brothers and sisters in Christ, today the Church celebrates the great Feast of not just one but two of the Lord’s Twelve Holy Apostles, namely that of St. Simon the Apostle and also St. Jude the Apostle. St. Simon the Apostle was also known as Simon the Zealot, and was a member of the radical Zealots who were very much opposed to the Romans and their rule and occupation of the lands of the Jewish people at the time. Meanwhile, St. Jude the Apostle should not be confused with the traitor Judas Iscariot, as he is also known as Judas Thaddeus or Jude Thaddeus. Sometimes this St. Jude the Apostle is also identified by some Church historians and scholars with Jude, one of the relatives of the Lord. Both of these Apostles had extensive work and ministry after the Lord commissioned and sent them during His Resurrection and Ascension into Heaven.

First of all, let us all look through the Scripture passages which we have heard and receive today, reflecting and pondering upon the messages and words that the Lord wants to remind us all as His followers and disciples. In our first reading today, taken from the Epistle of St. Paul the Apostle to the Church and the faithful in Ephesus, we heard of the Apostle telling the faithful there about how they have all been made parts of the Church of God, becoming God’s holy people, having been called and chosen from the world to be truly beloved and holy in Him, and tofo share together the mission that God has entrusted to His Church, because all of them are part of this same one Church of God, as we all are as well. Too us all of us, God has entrusted the same missions which He has entrusted to His Apostles and His Church.

In this Epistle, all of us as the disciples and followers of the Lord, we are all reminded that we are all as parts of the one Church of God have been made to be the Temples and Houses of God’s Holy Presence, as the Lord Himself has come into our midst, dwelling in us and giving us all the gift of His Holy Spirit, and through Him coming into us and dwelling within us, each and every one of us should always remember to keep ourselves truly holy and worthy of God by our actions and deeds, our contributions and efforts that mark as truly as those whom God had called and chosen. If we are idle in living our lives as Christians and if we do not do what we can do in order to follow the Lord and obey His commandments, then how can we be worthy part of the Temple of God, this one Church of God that is His Body?

Then, in our Gospel passage today taken from the Gospel according to St. Luke, we heard of the Lord calling His Apostles, choosing the Twelve of them from among all of His disciples, and which St. Luke introduced each by their names, including that of St. Simon and St. Jude whose feasts we are celebrating today. We heard how the Lord chose them to continue His works and to extend whatever He has been doing in our midst, reaching out to the people of God, healing those who are sick and troubled, proclaiming the Good News of God to those who have not yet heard them, and to prepare the way for the Lord, to reach out to the people and to bring them to God. And through these actions that the Lord Himself had done, He has shown by His own examples, what each and every one of us as Christians should be doing in our own lives.

Linking to what we have heard and discussed earlier today in our first reading from the Epistle of St. Paul to the Ephesians, this is therefore what each and every one of us as Christians need to do in order for us to do what God had entrusted to us to do, to commit ourselves wholeheartedly and to do His will, to show His love, compassion and kindness manifested through our own exemplary lives and actions, by each and every one of our loving actions towards our fellow brothers and sisters around us. All of us as Christians must always practice and show the love of God and embody His Good News and truth in everything that we say and do, in every opportunities and occasions, and that is how we take part in the efforts and works of the Church, which the Apostles had begun and which all of us ought to continue and carry on.

And now, after having discussed and discerned on the readings of the Sacred Scriptures, let us all discuss further about the lives of the two Apostles whose feast we all celebrate today. St. Simon the Apostle as mentioned was a member of the radical Zealots who often attacked and sabotaged the Roman rule in Judea and Galilee, and he was likely part of this efforts and uprisings before he came to know of the Lord and became His follower. After he followed the Lord, it was likely that he was no longer involved in the activities of the Zealots, and gave himself wholly to the service and cause of the Lord, and after the Lord has risen from the dead and ascended into Heaven, he together with the other Apostles, strengthened and empowered by the Holy Spirit, went to proclaim the Lord in many places and regions.

St. Simon the Apostle according to Church history and tradition went to various places all around Judea and Galilee in the Holy Land, as well as further regions like Lebanon and Armenia, Egypt and Ethiopia, as well as traditions that showed that he was also involved in ministry and evangelisation in areas even further like Africa and Britain, where he likely encountered many people who have not yet known the Lord in very distant places, and he brought the seeds of Christian faith to all those people, telling them of the salvation and eternal life that Christ has offered and reassured them with, and which St. Simon himself had heard and witnessed. Eventually, like most of the other Apostles and the early disciples of the Lord, he was persecuted and martyred in Georgia in the Caucasus, during one of his missionary trips.

Meanwhile, St. Jude the Apostle, also known as St. Jude Thaddeus as mentioned, had different stories and legends depending on who he was associated with in history. He was known either as St. Jude of James or son of James in the Gospel of St. Luke today and in the Acts of the Apostles also written by St. Luke, or as the brother or relative of the Lord as mentioned. Nonetheless, regardless of the actual identity of the St. Jude we honour and celebrate today, he went to many regions to proclaim the Lord and His Good News, travelling all throughout the regions of Judea, Samaria and Idumaea around Jerusalem, preaching among the Jews and Gentiles alike, and also further afield in Syria, Mesopotamia and Libya, travelling to those places and bringing the Good News of God to many people.

St. Jude was credited as one of the first missionaries to bring the Christian faith and teachings to the region now known as Armenia, where he revealed the Good News of Christ to many of the people in the region, many centuries before Armenia was to become the first state in the world to adopt Christianity as the official faith. Eventually, like St. Simon the Apostle and the many other Apostles and disciples of his time, St. Jude the Apostle was persecuted and eventually martyred in the region of Beirut in what is today part of Lebanon. According to one tradition, it was also where St. Simon the Apostle was martyred, and why they were usually celebrated together. Regardless, the commitment and dedication that St. Jude the Apostle showed, with that of St. Simon the Apostle should serve as good example and inspiration for all of us to follow in our own life as Christians.should serve as great inspiration for all of us to follow in our own lives as Christians.

Brothers and sisters in Christ, as we all have listened through the life and examples of St. Simon the Apostle and St. Jude the Apostle, their commitments to God and their dedication in proclaiming His Good News and truth, let us all realise that we are all also part of this same Church of God, entrusted with the same mission to do God’s will and to proclaim Him faithfully at all times, in our various groups and communities and among everyone that we have encountered daily in our lives. May all of us continue to exhibit the strong faith, dedication and commitment like what St. Simon and St. Jude, holy Apostles of the Lord have shown us. And may the Lord continue to bless us in our every good and faithful works, endeavours and efforts, all for His greater glory. Amen.

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Monday, 28 October 2024 : Feast of St. Simon and St. Jude, Apostles (Gospel Reading)

Liturgical Colour : Red

Luke 6 : 12-19

At that time, Jesus went out into the hills to pray, spending the whole night in prayer with God. When day came, He called His disciples to Him, and chose Twelve of them, whom He called ‘Apostles’ : Simon, whom He named Peter, and his brother Andrew; James and John; Philip and Bartholomew; Matthew and Thomas; James son of Alpheus and Simon called the Zealot; Judas son of James, and Judas Iscariot, who would be the traitor.

Coming down the hill with them, Jesus stood in an open plain. Many of His disciples were there, and a large crowd of people, who had come from all parts of Judea and Jerusalem, and from the coastal cities of Tyre and Sidon. They gathered to hear Him and to be healed of their diseases. And people troubled by unclean spirits were cured.

The entire crowd tried to touch Him, because of the power that went out from Him and healed them all.

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Monday, 28 October 2024 : Feast of St. Simon and St. Jude, Apostles (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.

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Monday, 28 October 2024 : Feast of St. Simon and St. Jude, Apostles (First Reading)

Liturgical Colour : Red

Ephesians 2 : 19-22

Now, you are no longer strangers or guests, but fellow citizens of the holy people : you are of the household of God. You are the house, whose foundations are the Apostles and prophets, and whose cornerstone is Christ Jesus. In Him, the whole structure is joined together, and rises, to be a holy Temple, in the Lord.

In Him, you, too, are being built, to become the spiritual Sanctuary of God.

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Friday, 11 October 2024 : 27th Week of Ordinary Time, Memorial of Pope St. John XXIII, Pope (First Reading)

Liturgical Colour : Green or White (Popes)

Galatians 3 : 7-14

Understand, then, that those who follow the way of faith are sons and daughters of Abraham. The Scriptures foresaw that, by the way of faith, God would give true righteousness to the non-Jewish nations. For God’s promise to Abraham was this : In you shall all the nations be blessed. So, now, those who take the way of faith receive the same blessing as Abraham, who believed; but those who rely on the practice of the Law are under a curse, for it is written : Cursed is everyone who does not always fulfil everything written in the Law.

It is plainly written that no one becomes righteous in God’s way, by the Law : by faith the righteous shall live. Yet the Law gives no place to faith, for according to it : the one who fulfils the commandments shall have life through them. Now Christ rescued us from the curse of the Law, by becoming cursed Himself, for our sake, as it is written : there is a curse on everyone who is hanged on a tree.

So the blessing granted to Abraham, reached the pagan nations in, and, with Christ, and we received the promised Spirit, through faith.

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Thursday, 10 October 2024 : 27th Week of Ordinary Time (First Reading)

Liturgical Colour : Green

Galatians 3 : 1-5

How foolish you are, Galatians! How could they bewitch you after Jesus Christ has been presented to you as crucified? I shall ask you only this : Did you receive the Spirit by the practice of the Law, or by believing the message? How can you be such fools : you begin with the Spirit and end up with the flesh!

So, you have experienced all this in vain! Would that, it were not so! Did God give you the Spirit, and work miracles among you because of your observance of the Law, or because you believed in His message?

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Wednesday, 9 October 2024 : 27th Week of Ordinary Time, Memorial of St. Denis, Bishop and Martyr, and Companions, Martyrs, and St. John Leonardi, Priest (First Reading)

Liturgical Colour : Green or Red (Martyrs) or White (Priests)

Galatians 2 : 1-2, 7-14

After fourteen years, I, again, went up to Jerusalem with Barnabas, and Titus came with us. Following a revelation, I went, to lay before them the Gospel that I am preaching to the pagans. I had a private meeting with the leaders – lest I should be working, or have worked, in a wrong way.

They recognised that I have been entrusted to give the Good News to the pagan nations, just as Peter has been entrusted to give it to the Jews. In the same way that God made Peter the Apostle of the Jews, He made me the Apostle of the pagans. James, Cephas and John acknowledged the graces God gave me.

Those men, who were regarded as the pillars of the Church, stretched out their hand to me and Barnabas, as a sign of fellowship; we would go to the pagans, and they, to the Jews. We should only keep in mind, the poor among them. I have taken care to do this.

When, later, Cephas, came to Antioch, I confronted him, since he deserved to be blamed. Before some of James’ people arrived, he used to eat with non-Jewish people. But when they arrived, he withdrew, and did not mingle anymore with them, for fear of the Jewish group. The rest of the Jews followed him in this pretense, and even Barnabas was part of this insincerity.

When I saw that they were not acting in line with the truth of the Gospel, I said to Cephas publicly : If you, who are Jewish, agreed to live like the non-Jews, setting aside the Jewish customs, why do you, now, compel the non-Jews to live like Jews?

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Saturday, 21 September 2024 : Feast of St. Matthew, Apostle and Evangelist (Homily and Scripture Reflections)

Liturgical Colour : Red

Dear brothers and sisters in Christ, today the Church celebrates the great occasion of the Feast of St. Matthew, one of the great Apostles of the Lord and also one of the Four Evangelists. St. Matthew has once been known as Levi, a tax collector who was among those despised by the Pharisees and the teachers of the Law among others for their work and role in collecting taxes on behalf of the rulers and overlords of the land, and were also seen and perceived as being corrupt and greedy by the others which made them hated and shunned by the rest of the community. Yet, as we have seen from the example of St. Matthew himself, that no matter what people might think of or perceive, even great sinners and those deemed to be unworthy of God, are capable of truly great and faithful deeds, and are equally beloved by God like everyone else.

In the Gospels, we heard how Levi was called by the Lord, and he immediately left everything behind in order to follow Him and commit Himself wholly to His cause from then on. St. Matthew as Levi worked in collecting taxes for the Romans and the local rulers, and that led to him and the other tax collectors being despised as they collected taxes which were resented by many among the people, as those taxes were expenses that at times made it difficult for many people to make ends meet. As mentioned, this made the tax collectors to be considered as greedy and corrupt, and they were branded and marginalised, ostracised and rejected because they were seen as wicked and sinful, and the Pharisees in particular acted against them and made them to be the enemies of the people of God.

But, as the Gospel also highlighted, the tax collectors and the others whom those self-righteous people condemned and ostracised as sinners were actually the ones who wanted to seek the Lord for His forgiveness and mercy, and also those who were willing to listen to His truth and teachings, while the ones who thought themselves as worthy and righteous like the Pharisees and the teachers of the Law, proudly and arrogantly rejected the Lord and His teachings, stubbornly closing their hearts and minds against God and all the truth that He has revealed through His Son, the Saviour Whom He had sent into their midst. It was St. Matthew and the many other sinners who came closer to God and His salvation, through their humility and desire to love God wholeheartedly.

According to Apostolic traditions and history, St. Matthew continued to minister among the Jewish people, just as his Gospel was noted for his particular aim and focus on the Jewish converts to the Christian faith. He worked hard to proclaim the Lord to them and then he continued on with his ministry to other places like Ethiopia. It was there that according to tradition, St. Matthew was martyred after he rebuked the King of Ethiopia who lusted after a holy virgin who had consecrated herself to God. St. Matthew devoted himself faithfully and wholeheartedly to the Lord all throughout his life to the end, and in doing so, he truly showed us all his commitment to the Lord’s path, and inspire us to do the same as well, giving us all the hope that even he, who was once shunned and ostracised, can become a great disciple of the Lord. 

Brothers and sisters in Christ, as we heard and discussed in the life and ministry which St. Matthew, Apostle and Evangelist carried out for the sake of the Lord, as a faithful disciple and servant of God, through his many efforts and works at evangelisation, through his missions and through the Gospel that he had compiled and written, as well as the many other efforts and works he had made, through his courageous testifying of the truth and message of the Gospel that he himself had written, St. Matthew has shown us a great example and inspiration on how each and every one of us can live our lives worthily as Christians as well. All of us are called and reminded to follow in the footsteps of St. Matthew and the other Apostles and disciples of the Lord at all times.

In this world today, there are still many people who have yet to know the Lord and His truth, His Good News and salvation. And there are many people who are still ignorant of His love and grace, His ways and commandments. It is up to us to show what our Christian faith is all about and to reveal God’s Good News and love to everyone around us, to all those whom we encounter in each and every moments of our lives, not through mere empty words and formalities, appearances or pious actions, but through wholesome and thorough embodiment of our faith in our daily lives, in even the smallest details and parts of our words, actions and deeds, in our every efforts and interactions with one another, with those who are less fortunate and unloved, those who are suffering and troubled, and whenever we make ourselves available to them, to show tender care, concern and genuine love, that is how we show the love of God to them.

This is why today, as we rejoice together and honour as one people the memory of the great St. Matthew the Apostle and Evangelist, holy servant of God, our role model and inspiration, let us all be reminded of our important roles and vocations in life as fellow Christians, as God’s holy and beloved disciples and followers. Each and every one of us have the important parts to play in doing whatever it is that God has entrusted to us, to bring forth the love and truth of God to more and more people throughout the whole world. We may think that we cannot do great things, but the reality is that, each and every one of us, no matter how small our contributions may be, but all these will add up together and make up the great works and contributions from every single one of us, reaching much further than we think we can reach through our efforts and works.

Let us all therefore renew our commitment to serve the Lord faithfully as St. Matthew and many other holy people of God had done, by doing our very best in each and every moments of our lives so that by our every good efforts and exemplary works, we may inspire many others whom we encounter in life, all those around us, be it those whom we know and even strangers, who have all come to seek God and therefore, through us, they may truly experience God’s love and grace. May the Lord, our most loving God and Creator continue to help and inspire us all in our journey of faith through life, that each and every moments of our lives may truly be enriching in faith and be good examples for each other. May St. Matthew, Holy Apostle and Evangelist, continue to intercede for us sinners and inspire us by his examples and dedication. Amen.

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Saturday, 21 September 2024 : Feast of St. Matthew, Apostle and Evangelist (Gospel Reading)

Liturgical Colour : Red

Matthew 9 : 9-13

At that time, as Jesus moved on from the place where He cured a paralytic man, He saw a man named Matthew, at his seat in the custom house; and He said to him, “Follow Me!” And Matthew got up and followed Him. 

Now it happened, while Jesus was at table in Matthew’s house, many tax collectors and sinners joined Jesus and His disciples. When the Pharisees saw this, they said to His disciples, “Why is it, that your Master eats with sinners and tax collectors?”

When Jesus heard this, He said, “Healthy people do not need a doctor, but sick people do. Go, and find out what this means : What I want is mercy, not sacrifice. I did not come to call the righteous, but sinners.”