Apostles of Jesus Christ

by

Tuesday, 27 December 2016 : 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.

by

Wednesday, 30 November 2016 : Feast of St. Andrew, Apostle (Homily and Scripture Reflections)

Liturgical Colour : Red
Dear brothers and sisters in Christ, on this day we celebrate together the feast of St. Andrew the Apostle of Jesus Christ and the brother of St. Peter the Apostle, who were among the first ones that Jesus our Lord called, and in fact St. Andrew was also known as St. Andrew the First-Called as he was first to be called by Jesus, and then he called St. Peter to the service of God.

St. Andrew and his brother St. Peter were fishermen at the lake of Galilee, together with St. James and St. John. When you think of what fisherman does and what is their standing in the society, certainly you would not have thought immediately that these people would later on become great and called the Apostles of our Lord. But that is precisely how God works, for He calls simple and ordinary people, and transforms them by the power of His grace and love.

St. Andrew was among those whom the Lord had chosen to be the principal servants of His, to be the bearers of His Good News and His teachings, His words of salvation and liberation from sin for all mankind to hear, to see and to witness, that through what the Apostles had witnessed from the Lord, and which they shared to others, they might bring all these people away from the darkness and from the brink of death into a new life blessed by God in His grace.

And certainly, their work would not be an easy one, for many challenges were facing them at that time. First of all, the Jewish authorities were against them, in how the Pharisees, the elders, the chief priests, the teachers of the Law and even secular authorities like the Sadducees and Herod’s supporters were against them. Many of these people had viewed Jesus and His ways and teachings as threats to their own authority, and just as they had persecuted Jesus and condemned Him to death, the same they had done for His followers as well.

Indeed, given such an opposition, especially from a stubborn and hard-hearted people, it would be easy to just throw in the towel and give up everything. We may be thinking that it is not worth the effort to suffer, to toil and even to die for the sake of our Faith, and for the sake of the Lord, but let me tell you, the Apostles would have thought completely otherwise.

The Apostles brought the Good News of God to all mankind, going to faraway places and converting the people into the light of God. What is at stake there was none other than the fate of many, countless souls, all those who had not heard of the words of the Lord and His ways, and thus lived in sin and darkness. Had the Apostles not be brave, courageous and had they not gone out of their way to preach the Good News, many, millions and more souls would have been lost, including that of ours.

Why is that so? That is because if they had not preached the Good News to others, then the Good News would only remain with them, and others would not have heard of it. And if these others would not have heard of it, then the knowledge of God and His salvation would have ended there and then, and no one would be there to instruct people throughout the many years following Jesus’ death, resurrection and ascension in the Faith, and therefore, neither would we have heard God’s salvation.

It was thanks to the hard work of the Apostles and their fellow disciples of the Lord, who have labourer hard, toiled hard, and persevered earnestly for their faith in God, for the evangelisation of the peoples, as what we have heard in the first reading today from St. Paul’s Epistle to the Church and the faithful in Rome. Through the works of the Apostles, many have heard of the Lord, and many have been turned from their sinful ways.

Divisions have been healed, and no longer were there distinction between Jews or Greeks, free or enslaved, for all have been freed and made equal in God. At that time, the Jews viewed themselves as superior to all the pagan peoples, the Gentiles, or non-Jews. They thought that because they were the direct descendants and heirs of Abraham, they deserved to receive God’s promise and not the other people.

But God made it clear through His teachings and through what the Apostles then disseminate among the people, Jews and Gentiles alike, that everyone are beloved by God and all who believe sincerely in Him will be saved. What matters is their love for God, their sincere devotion and their faith. And this was what the Apostles had laboured for, working tirelessly, suffering for persecution for our sake.

St. Andrew himself travelled to many places, including what is now Turkey and Greece. It was told that he helped to establish the See of Constantinople, the second in preeminence among all the dioceses in the world. It was there that he became the first bishop of the community of the faithful there, and spread the word of God to many people, and in the end, was martyred through crucifixion on an X-shaped cross, bringing glory to God.

Today, as we rejoice in the memory of the glorious Apostle St. Andrew, let us remember that as Christians, we still have that very same mission which our Lord has entrusted to His Apostles and disciples all those years ago. There are still yet many who have not heard of the word of God, His ways and His promised salvation. There are indeed many souls to be saved and many opportunities for evangelisation.

We are called to be the disciples of Christ, to be like His Apostle in our world today. We are called to serve Him through sincere faith and through zeal, that by our good works and by our courageous witness of the Lord and His teachings to others, we may be the source of eternal life and salvation for many others, that the salvation God has promised will not be ours alone, but also will belong to many, countless other souls.

Let us all ponder on this, and discern on what we can do, as Christians, as those who believe in Jesus our Lord, and of course, as those whom He had called to be the bearers of His Good News to the nations. As it had happened to the Apostles before, persecutions, challenges and difficulties will be part of our lives, but we should never fear, brethren, for God will always be with us, as He had been with His Apostles and all the martyrs and saints who have laboured and even gave up their lives for His sake.

May the Lord awaken in us the spirit and the strength to carry out His will and good works in our respective communities, that by the examples of St. Andrew and the other Holy Apostles, we may be inspired to serve Him with ever greater zeal and commit ourselves to works of redemption, calling all sinners to repentance in God, and thus make ourselves worthy of Him. May God bless all of our endeavours. Amen.

by

Wednesday, 30 November 2016 : 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.

by

Wednesday, 30 November 2016 : 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.

by

Wednesday, 30 November 2016 : Feast of St. Andrew, Apostle (First Reading)

Liturgical Colour : Red
Romans 10 : 9-18

You are saved if you confess with your lips that Jesus is Lord and in your heart you believe that God raised Him from the dead. By believing from the heart, you obtain true righteousness; by confessing the faith with your lips you are saved.

For the Scripture says : No one who believes in Him will be ashamed. Here there is no distinction between Jew and Greek; all have the same Lord, Who is very generous with whoever calls on Him. Truly, all who call upon the Name of the Lord will be saved.

But how can they call upon the Name of the Lord without having believed in Him? And how can they believe in Him without having first heard about Him? And how will they hear about Him if no one preaches about Him? And how will they preach about Him if no one sends them?

As Scripture says : How beautiful are the feet of the messenger of good news. Although not everyone obeyed the Good News, as Isaiah said : Lord, who has believed in our preaching? So, faith comes from preaching, and preaching is rooted in the word of Christ.

I ask : Have the Jews not heard? But of course they have. Because the voice of those preaching resounded all over the earth and their voice was heard to the ends of the world.

by

Monday, 7 November 2016 : 32nd Week of Ordinary Time (Gospel Reading)

Liturgical Colour : Green
Luke 17 : 1-6

At that time, Jesus said to His disciples, “Scandals will necessarily come and cause people to fall; but woe to the one who brings them about. It would be better for him to be thrown into the sea with a millstone around his neck. Truly, this would be better for that person, than to cause one of these little ones to fall.”

“Listen carefully : if your brother offends you, tell him, and if he is sorry, forgive him. And if he offends you seven times in one day, but seven times he says to you, ‘I am sorry,’ forgive him.”

The Apostles said to the Lord, “Increase our faith.” And the Lord said, “If you have faith, even the size of a mustard seed, you may say to this tree, ‘Be uprooted, and plant yourself in the sea!’ and it will obey you.”

by

Friday, 28 October 2016 : Feast of St. Simon and St. Jude, Apostles (Homily and Scripture Reflections)

Liturgical Colour : Red
Dear brothers and sisters in Christ, on this day we celebrate with great joy the feast of not just one, but two of the Lord’s very own Twelve Apostles, St. Simon and St. Jude. St. Simon the Apostle was once known as Simon the Zealot, likely from his former work and contributions to the Zealots, a community of people who led an active and passive resistance against the Romans. Meanwhile, St. Jude Thaddeus was a disciple often confused with Judas Iscariot, the traitor, and yet, he had done many wonderful deeds for the Lord and for His people.

In the Scripture readings today, we heard how God called His Apostles from among the people, chose them and charged them to assist Him in His works and missions to help the people of God, to whom Christ had laboured for in His earthly ministry in order to bring them towards salvation. He sent them to help Him in spreading the good works He has intended for His people, and to call them to repentance and to change their ways that they may be saved.

But it was not an easy task, and Jesus our Lord Himself reminded His disciples and Apostles in particular, that challenges facing them would be plenty. They would be tempted to abandon their efforts, just as what the Passion of our Lord showed us. When Jesus was betrayed by Judas Iscariot, who was none other than one among His Twelve Apostles, tempted by money, all the other Apostles and disciples abandoned Him and went into hiding, fearing repercussions from the enemies of their Lord.

And when the Pharisees, the elders and the chief priests commenced persecution of all the faithful, spearheaded by Saul, the future St. Paul the Apostle, some among the faithful faltered in their faith and devotion to the Lord, and faced with the choice between suffering and staying faithful to their God, or to enjoy reprieve and safety in the world and abandoning their God, there were those who chose to do the latter.

These are the challenges facing us Christians, not only just during that time, when the Church was still growing and blooming in its early days, but also throughout the history of Christendom right up to now, to this very day, and also in the foreseeable future that we have and which we will experience. It is the challenge for us to remain faithful to the Lord despite the persecutions and challenges, ridicule and rejection that the world has inflicted upon us.

Are we up to the task? And do we indeed realise that as our Lord’s disciples and followers in this modern era and times, there are still a lot of things left to be done in this world? We are the successors of the works of the Apostles and the Church fathers, who had established the Church on the firm foundation of their faith and courageous devotion. We have to follow in their footsteps and be faithful in all of our ways.

Brothers and sisters in Christ, it was told that St. Simon and St. Jude Thaddeus went to many different places, serving the people in various locations and relating to them the revelation of truth which came from God. Through their works and assistance, many had come to believe in God, and many more have repented from their sins and received the salvation from God.

They were not always welcomed, and there were those who were opposed to their works, both among their own people and among the pagan nations. But they never gave up, and through their persistence, the foundations of the Church in many places had been made strong and firm. They have led by example in their faith, encouraging many to remain strong in the faith.

And eventually, even though they met their ends in the faraway lands, St. Simon in Armenia or Persia, where he might have been crucified or sawn in half, and St. Jude Thaddeus in Syria, where it was told that he was beheaded with an axe, and some accounts had his martyrdom together with St. Simon, which was why their feast days are celebrated together.

Brothers and sisters in Christ, shall we then follow the examples of these holy and venerable saints? Shall we follow in their footsteps as well? There are many things that we can learn from them, and perhaps we really should do so. We are called to continue the good works of the Apostles, and be courageous in spreading the message of the Good News of the Gospel, not worrying and fearing challenges that will come our way.

May the Lord help us in our endeavours and good works in serving Him, and may He ever bless us all always with abundant blessings, and bring us all ever closer to His everlasting love and mercy. Amen.

by

Friday, 28 October 2016 : 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.

by

Friday, 28 October 2016 : 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.

by

Friday, 28 October 2016 : 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.