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Saturday, 2 May 2015 : 4th Week of Easter, Memorial of St. Athanasius, Bishop and Doctor of the Church (First Reading)

Liturgical Colour : White

Acts 13 : 44-52

The following Sabbath almost the entire city gathered to listen to Paul, who spoke a fairly long time about the Lord. But the presence of such a crowd made the Jews jealous. So they began to oppose with insults whatever Paul said.

Then Paul and Barnabas spoke out firmly, saying, “It was necessary that God’s word  be first proclaimed to you, but since you now reject it and judge yourselves to be unworthy of eternal life, we turn to non-Jewish people. For thus we were commanded by the Lord : ‘I have set you as a light to the pagan nations, so that you may bring My salvation to the ends of the earth.'”

Those who were not Jews rejoiced when they heard this and praised the message of the Lord, and all those destined for everlasting life believed in it. Thus the Word spread throughout the whole region. Some of the Jews, however, incited God-fearing women of the upper class and the leading men of the city, as well, and stirred up an intense persecution against Paul and Barnabas.

Finally they had them expelled from their region. The Apostles shook the dust from their feet in protest against this people and went to Iconium, leaving the disciples filled with joy and Holy Spirit.

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Thursday, 23 April 2015 : 3rd Week of Easter, Memorial of St. George, Martyr and St. Adalbert, Bishop and Martyr (Homily and Scripture Reflections)

Liturgical Colour : White or Red (Martyrs)

Dear brothers and sisters in Christ, today in the readings we heard about the revelation of the truth in the Lord, first, in the Acts of the Apostles where the steward to the Queen of Ethiopia met up with the Apostle St. Philip while he was reading about the prophecy on the Messiah, and was baptised after the truth was explained and revealed to him.

And in the Gospel, we heard how Jesus further elaborated on Him being the Salvation and Saviour of all, as the Living Bread from heaven, and all who share in Him will not suffer eternal death but live eternally. This is showing how God had given us so much goodness and graces, but we mankind often spurn that love, by looking at idols and other things that distract us from the Lord. We often rejected His love and even pretend that we do not know Him.

Remember brethren, just as the Ethiopian steward read about the suffering servant of God in the Book of the prophet Isaiah, God Himself had foretold about His coming into the world, not as a condescending and proud Lord who boasted of His strength to all and oppress the weak under Him, but instead He had done the exact opposite, that as the Leader, Lord and Master of all, He came as a humble Man, assuming the appearance of a mere creature, and yet, He is still God. This is the wonderful and amazing mystery of our faith, of God made Man, for the sake of our salvation.

This is our faith and this is what we believe in, and as St. Philip had done, we have to be able to go forth and announce the truth about Christ our Lord to others who had not yet received that truth. And this is what evangelisation is all about, that is bringing the Good News of God’s salvation to all of the world. For if we do not do this, then who will? And who will be responsible when the souls of those who did not hear the Word are lost forever? It will be on our hands, brothers and sisters in Christ.

For all of us who have been baptised in the Lord Jesus and welcomed into His one and only Church, have been made to be the children of God. We have therefore a mission which Christ Himself had entrusted to His Apostles, that is to preach the Good News to all the peoples of all the nations to the ends of the earth. There is much that we can do, and we truly should not ignore what God had entrusted to us.

Today, we celebrate the feast of two great and brave saints of the Church, that is of St. George and St. Adalbert. Both of them were great martyrs of the Faith. St. George, also known as St. George of Lydda was a soldier in the Roman Army. He was an officer in the army of the Roman Emperor Diocletian, who was infamous for his great persecutions of the faithful.

St. George refused to renounce his faith and he remained devoted to his Lord and Master, even to the point of denouncing his own worldly and earthly lord, the Roman Emperor, who had forced many to renounce their faith and persecuted many of those who remained faithful to God. He proclaimed bravely in the public assembly and in the presence of the Emperor that he is a Christian and he will not turn away from his faith in Jesus.

Meanwhile, St. Adalbert was a Czech bishop who lived and died about a millennia ago, at the time of the great works of evangelisation to convert many people of those areas and other places throughout Central and Eastern Europe from the pagan faith to the one true faith in God. St. Adalbert worked hard to preach the faith among the masses who still practiced the false pagan practices, and even though he was often harassed and threatened, he continued his hard work.

Eventually, both St. George and St. Adalbert were martyred for their faith. They refused to change their lives and submit to the will and authority of the world made unjustly by the ignorance and by the lack of understanding of who our Lord and God is. They stood up for their faith, and for what they had done, they had earned great glory for the Lord. And rich are their inheritances on the last day.

Let us all be inspired to do more in our faithful service to God, imitating what St. George and St. Adalbert had done. Let us not be passive, complacent and ignorant in our faith life, but instead let us all have faith that is real, concrete, vibrant and true. May Almighty God bless us and guide us in life, that we may ever draw closer to Him. Amen.

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Thursday, 23 April 2015 : 3rd Week of Easter, Memorial of St. George, Martyr and St. Adalbert, Bishop and Martyr (Gospel Reading)

Liturgical Colour : White or Red (Martyrs)

John 6 : 44-51

At that time, Jesus said to the Jews, “No one can come to Me unless he is drawn by the Father who sent Me; and I will raise him up on the last day. It has been written in the Prophets : ‘They shall all be taught by God.’ So whoever listens and learns from the Father comes to Me.”

“For no one has seen the Father except the One who comes from God; He has seen the Father. Truly, I say to you, whoever believes has eternal life. I am the Bread of Life. Though your ancestors ate the manna in the desert, they died. But here you have the Bread which comes from heaven, so that you may eat of it, and not die.”

“I am the Living Bread which has come from heaven; whoever eats of this Bread will live forever. The Bread I shall give is My flesh, and I will give it for the life of the world.”

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Thursday, 23 April 2015 : 3rd Week of Easter, Memorial of St. George, Martyr and St. Adalbert, Bishop and Martyr (Psalm)

Liturgical Colour : White or Red (Martyrs)

Psalm 65 : 8-9, 16-17, 20

Praise our God, o nations, let the sound of His praise be heard, for He has preserved us among the living and kept our feet from stumbling.

All you who fear God, come and listen; let me tell you what He has done. I cried aloud to Him, extolling Him with my tongue.

May God be blessed! He has not rejected my prayer; nor withheld His love from me.

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Thursday, 23 April 2015 : 3rd Week of Easter, Memorial of St. George, Martyr and St. Adalbert, Bishop and Martyr (First Reading)

Liturgical Colour : White or Red (Martyrs)

Acts 8 : 26-40

An angel of the Lord said to Philip, “Go south towards the road that goes down from Jerusalem to Gaza, the desert road.” So he set out and it happened that an Ethiopian was passing along that way. He was an official in charge of the treasury of the queen of the Ethiopians; he had come on pilgrimage to Jerusalem and was on his way home. He was sitting in his carriage and reading the prophet Isaiah.

The Spirit said to Philip, “Go and catch up with that carriage.” So Philip ran up and heard the man reading the prophet Isaiah; and he asked, “Do you really understand what you are reading?” The Ethiopian replied, “How can I, unless someone explains it to me?” He then invited Philip to get in and sit beside him.

This was the passage of Scripture he was reading : ‘He was led like a sheep to be slaughtered; like a lamb that is dumb before the shearer, He did not open His mouth. He was humbled and deprived of His rights. Who can speak of His descendants? For He was uprooted from the earth.’ The official asked Philip, “Tell me, please, does the prophet speak of himself or of someone else?”

Then Philip began to tell him the Good News of Jesus, using this text of Scripture as his starting point. As they travelled down the road they came to a place where there was some water. Then the Ethiopian official said, “Look, here is water; what is to keep me from being baptised?” And Philip said, “If you believe with all your heart, you may.” And he answered and said, “I believe that Jesus Christ is the Son of God.”

Then he ordered the carriage to stop; both Philip and the Ethiopian went down into the water and Philip baptised him. When they came out of the water, the Spirit of the Lord took Philip away. The Ethiopian saw him no more, but he continued on his way full of joy. Philip found himself at Azotus, and he went about announcing the Good News in all the towns until he reached Caesarea.

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Tuesday, 21 April 2015 : 3rd Week of Easter, Memorial of St. Anselm, Bishop and Doctor of the Church (Homily and Scripture Reflections)

Liturgical Colour : White

Dear brothers and sisters in Christ, today we continue on the celebration of Easter with the readings that showed us first, the martyrdom of St. Stephen, the first of the martyrs of the Faith, who was stoned to death by the Council of the elders after he testified the truth and spoke the truth about Christ, and chided them for their lack of faith and for having rejected the Lord.

And in the Gospel, we heard how Jesus also similarly chided the people for looking at earthly things and to satisfy their own human desires, after the feeding of the five thousand people. Instead, He told them all to seek the true Bread that gives life and came from heaven. And that Bread is none other than Jesus Himself. Jesus has given Himself to us, His Body to eat and Blood to drink, that we all who share in them, receive eternal life through them.

This is the fact that is so difficult to be understood by the people, many of whom refused to believe that Christ is the Saviour of the world. Many of them rejected Him and refused to listen to His teachings, even though what He taught them is truth spoken like a great light that pierces the greatest darkness. They refused to do so, most likely because they refused to acknowledge their weaknesses and frailty. This is just as how Jesus put it, that those who live in darkness fear the light because that light would reveal whatever wickedness that they had committed.

Brothers and sisters in Christ, today we are called to question ourselves and our faith in God. Have we been able to overcome our numerous obstacles in knowing and becoming closer to our Lord? Have we been able to live a life that is truly filled with faith and devotion to God? Or have we rather succumbed to the worldly temptations and pleasures and thus drew further away from God?

One thing we have to realise is that none of us is perfect, and all of us make mistakes at one point in our lives. We cannot think that once we have the taint of sin in us, then we are finished. Our Lord has His mercy and love always pointed at us, and He always seeks to bring us into salvation in Him. That was why He sent us Jesus His Son, so that through Him, we may be saved.

And on the other hand, we should also not think that we can get away with our sins, that God does not care about our sinfulness and iniquities, or that we can always ask Him for mercy again and again. This is the attitude which many of us have at the moment, and this is an attitude that is certainly not good and something that we do not want to have with us.

We have to be proactive in our faith and in our life. We must always seek the heavenly inheritance which God promised all those who remain faithful to Him. It is often that we always seek for things that are vain and worldly in nature. We have this strong tendency to find refuge in the world, to find satisfaction in things like wealth, money, worldly fame and pleasures of the flesh, human approval and influence, and many other things.

Brothers and sisters in Christ, in this holy Easter season, we are all reminded that all those things do not bring us true and lasting joy but a mere passing moment of joy that is of this world. Let us ask ourselves, that whether the things of this world have allowed us to feel satisfied or instead wanting to have more and more. It is part of our human nature, never to be easily satisfied with what we have. We always seek more and more and wanting for more and more.

Therefore, let us today renew our commitment to the Lord and commit ourselves to a life emptied of greed and desire of the world, but instead be filled with the genuine and sincere desire for the Lord. Today we celebrate the feast of St. Anselm, a great Bishop and later appointed Doctor of the Church, who was the Archbishop of Canterbury in the eleventh century.

St. Anselm was a great reformer and visionary, who brought about much changes to the Church and to the flock and community which was entrusted to his care. He brought the Church out of the dependance of the world and bring about its independence from the authority and the meddling of the worldly authorities, submitting it to God alone. He had had many enemies, including the king of England himself, and went into exile more than once, but his dedication remained strong.

He led the reforms to purify the Church and banned sinful practices such as simony and priests bowing down to the will of nobles and kings, as well as the breaking of the sacred vow of celibacy in the priestly orders. Through all these, St. Anselm showed us that we must not bow down to the demands of the world and to succumb to our desires is the sure path to damnation.

Therefore, inspired by his examples, let us go forth in faith and renew our faith to the Lord. Let us do more good deeds according to our faith and help each other to grow ever stronger in our faith and devotion towards the Lord. God bless us all. Amen.

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Tuesday, 21 April 2015 : 3rd Week of Easter, Memorial of St. Anselm, Bishop and Doctor of the Church (Gospel Reading)

Liturgical Colour : White

John 6 : 30-35

At that time, the people said to Jesus, “Show us miraculous signs, that we may see and believe You. What sign do You perform? Our ancestors ate manna in the desert; as Scripture says : They were given bread from heaven to eat.”

Jesus then said to them, “Truly, I say to you, it was not Moses who gave you the bread from heaven. My Father gives you the true bread from heaven. The bread God gives is the One who comes from heaven and gives His life to the world.” And they said to Him, “Give us this bread always.”

Jesus said to them, “I am the Bread of Life; whoever comes to Me shall never be hungry, and whoever believes in Me shall never be thirsty.”

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Tuesday, 21 April 2015 : 3rd Week of Easter, Memorial of St. Anselm, Bishop and Doctor of the Church (Psalm)

Liturgical Colour : White

Psalm 30 : 3cd-4, 6ab and 7b-8a, 17 and 21ab

Be a rock of refuge for me, a fortress for my safety. For You are my rock and my stronghold, lead me for Your Name’s sake.

Into Your hands I commend my spirit; You have redeemed me. But I put all my trust in the Lord. I will rejoice and be glad in Your love.

Make Your face shine upon Your servant; save me in Your love. In the shelter of Your presence You hide them from human wiles; You keep them in Your dwelling.

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Tuesday, 21 April 2015 : 3rd Week of Easter, Memorial of St. Anselm, Bishop and Doctor of the Church (First Reading)

Liturgical Colour : White

Acts 7 : 51 – Acts 8 : 1a

Stephen said to the Council, “But you are a stubborn people, you hardened your hearts and closed your ears. You have always resisted the Holy Spirit just as your fathers did. Was there a prophet whom your ancestors did not persecute? They killed those who announced the coming of the Just One whom you have now betrayed and murdered, you who received the Law through the angels but did not fulfill it.”

When they heard this reproach, they were enraged and they gnashed their teeth against Stephen. But he, full of the Holy Spirit, fixed his eyes on heaven and saw the glory of God and Jesus at God’s right hand, so he declared : “I see the heavens open and the Son of Man at the right hand of God.”

But they shouted and covered their ears with their hands and rushed together upon him. They brought him out of the city and stoned him, and the witnesses laid down their cloaks at the feet of a young man named Saul. As they were stoning him, Stephen prayed saying : “Lord Jesus, receive my spirit.” Then he knelt down and said in a loud voice : “Lord, do not hold this sin against them.” And when he had said this, he died.

Saul was there, approving his murder. This was the beginning of a great persecution against the Church in Jerusalem.

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Wednesday, 18 March 2015 : 4th Week of Lent, Memorial of St. Cyril of Jerusalem, Bishop and Doctor of the Church (Homily and Scripture Reflections)

Liturgical Colour : Purple/Violet or White (Bishops)

Dear brothers and sisters in Christ, today we heard about the relationship between Jesus and His Father in heaven, as Jesus is the Son of God, begotten from the Father, and whom together with the Holy Spirit is part of the inseparable and indivisible Holy Trinity, One God with Three Divine Persons. The Word of God, the Son, was sent into the world in order to save it, through the person of Jesus.

And this is the central theme of this Lenten celebration, and indeed, the very central mystery of our faith itself. For we believe in the Lord who has come down from heaven, in order that we may be saved from the sure threat of death. Death is the consequence for sin, and because of sin, we have been subjected to death and to pain as well as suffering. It is the just punishment for the disobedience which we have shown to our Lord.

But God is willing to have mercy on us, and to forgive us all of our faults and trespasses. For we are all the beloved children of our God, who were beloved over all other creatures. He loves us very much, even as He also hates all of our infidelities and rebelliousness. He is willing to forgive us, but only if we also play our part, on renouncing our wickedness and to sin no more before both God and men alike.

Those who are faithful to the Lord will receive great blessings and graces, and they will have their sins and faults forgiven, because the Lord knows of their righteousness and He knows that in their hearts, they keep always a special place for Him to dwell in, and their ears and hearts are not closed against the ever constant reminders which He had sent to remind us of our sinfulness.

And He continues to urge all those who have yet to turn themselves to His ways to change themselves before it is too late. For when it is too late, when the embrace of death takes us before we are able to repent, then what is left for us will be just punishment for our faults, and as what awaits all those who are wicked, the eternal suffering and despair that all of them suffer in hellfire.

It is clear that God does not want this to be our fate. That is why He gave us constant reminders, and lastly by sending His own Son into the world. Remember the famous passage from the Scripture, that God so loved the world and all of us, so that He sent His only begotten Son, so that all who believe in Him may be saved? It was also mentioned that He came not to judge us, but to show us the fullness of God’s mercy and salvation.

Today we celebrate the feast of St. Cyril of Jerusalem, once the Patriarch of Jerusalem, the overseer of the See where most of the most wonderful things in the Scriptures has happened, and where our Lord Himself laid down His life and shed His Blood for our sake and for our salvation. He was a great theologian and servant of God and His Church, and as a leader of God’s faithful, he was devoted to the people entrusted under his care.

He was faithful in his leadership, and despite the heresies that filled the churches of God at that time, with Arianism being at the forefront, he led the people through the difficult times, and he kept their faith strongly within them. His dedication and hard work has helped the people greatly and many souls were saved because of him. St. Cyril had many enemies, many of those desired to bring about his downfall.

But he continued on with his hard work, and through those hard work, much goodness came from that, and many souls who had been at the gates of hell were saved because of what St. Cyril had preached. He defended the true faith and preached against the falsehoods of heresies. He preached true doctrine of the faith, and the orthodox beliefs of the faith, which provided the much needed light and guidance to all those who have lost their way in the darkness of this world.

Therefore, in this holy season of Lent, we are all reminded that we have so much we can do in this world in order to help each other in achieving the path to salvation. There are many things that are in our ability which we can use to help in bringing salvation to all of us, to one another. If we think only about our own salvation, then we truly are selfish and we have no God’s love within us.

If we want to be truly righteous and loving people of God, then we all should show the love of God in our lives, in our own actions, in all the things that we say and do, so that by all of them, we will be found just and worthy, and God will reward us with His everlasting grace and blessings. God be with us all, and may He forgive us sinners our sins, and fill us with His light and with His love. Amen.