Christian

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Saturday, 27 April 2013 : 4th Week of Easter (Scripture Reflection)

Dear brothers and sisters in Christ, we are all the children of one God, the Lord our Father who came down to us through His Son, Jesus Christ, our Lord. We are all His children, and because of that, all of us should indeed be like Him, both in appearance, because He created us in His own image, and most importantly in our behaviour and in all the things that we do.

But sadly, indeed, that many of us no longer do things which reflect that we are all the children of our loving God, and instead, many of the things that we had done, are representative of the fact that we are children of the evil one, Satan, the tricker and deceiver. He deceived us and our ancestors to do things in his own preferences, and in doing so, we are following Satan’s bidding.

Do we then serve the Lord or Satan, His enemy? It is indeed easy to say that we want to serve the Lord, but yet, serving the Lord our God is never easy, because this world itself is filled with the powers and agents of Satan, which will do his best to keep us away from true salvation and faith in God. He did not want us to be saved, because of his hatred against the Lord, he wants only that His children, the mankind, suffer for that.

God chose us, and He justifies us, and if we remain faithful in Him, we will indeed receive abundant blessings in Him, and we will gain the promised eternal life and eternal bliss in union with our God. He chose us, and not we choose Him, for not all the people will be saved, and many remained in rebellion against God’s love and compassion, which He offered to all mankind for free, by dying on the cross.

That was what happened to the Jews in the Gentile lands, that despite the disciples attempting to spread the Good News to them first, being the first chosen people of our Lord, they have failed to see through the shadow placed by the evil one on their eyes and the ‘eyes’ of their hearts, and because they did not have true faith in God, they were easily taken over by the evil one, and reject the salvation offered freely by our Lord and God, Jesus Christ, the Messiah.

And today, we listened to the story of the evangelisations done by the apostles, by St. Paul and Barnabas, who were at the forefront of the attempts to bring the Word of God to all the nations, to the pagans and Gentiles, whom we often see that they embrace the faith in God openly, because God becomes a living spring in them, and He fills the emptiness that was once within their souls and their hearts.

Again, God justifies anybody who believes in Him, remain in His love, and obey His commandments, and actually do His will rather than just mere lip-service in their faith in God. He did not let Himself be biased, even against Israel, His people, whom He had chosen through Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, their forefathers. For there were many whom did not belong to the Jews, but actually having greater faith and love for God than the Jews ever were.

Therefore, the same also applies to us today, dear brothers and sisters in Christ, that if all of us remain strongly in God’s love and favour, and that if we ensure that we do His will and commandments, and strive to be men of justice, love, and truth, we will be granted His graces and blessings, and truly becoming His beloved children, who are worthy of His kingdom and the eternal life. Let us go forth and make our actions and our words to reflect the love of God, and proclaim to all mankind that God is love, and God is life, and through Him we had been ransomed from death that is our fate. God bless us all. Amen.

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Saturday, 27 April 2013 : 4th Week of Easter (Gospel Reading)

John 14 : 7-14

“If you know Me, you will know the Father also; indeed you know Him, and you have seen Him.”

Philip asked Him, “Lord, show us the Father, and that is enough.” Jesus said to him, “What! I have been with you so long and you still do not know Me, Philip? Whoever sees Me sees the Father; how can you say, ‘Show us the Father?’ Do you not believe that I am in the Father and the Father is in Me?”

“All that I say to you, I do not say of Myself. The Father who dwells in Me is doing His own work. Believe Me when I say that I am in the Father and the Father is in Me; at least believe it on the evidence of these works that I do.”

“Truly, I say to you, the one who believes in Me will do the same works that I do; and he will even do greater than these, for I am going to the Father. Everything you ask in My Name, I will do, so that the Father may be glorified in the Son. Indeed, anything you ask, calling upon My Name, I will do.”

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Saturday, 27 April 2013 : 4th Week of Easter (Psalm)

Psalm 97 : 1, 2-3ab, 3cd-4

Sing to the Lord a new song, for He has done wonders; His right hand, His holy arm, has won victory for Him.

The Lord has shown His salvation, revealing His justice to the nations. He has not forgotten His love nor His faithfulness to Israel.

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Saturday, 27 April 2013 : 4th Week of Easter (First Reading)

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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Friday, 26 April 2013 : 4th Week of Easter (Scripture Reflection)

Behold Jesus, our Risen Lord and God! He is the Son of God, the Messiah, who was rejected and tortured and suffered a humiliating death, abandoned by those near to Him and those who were dear to Him, just as prophesied by the prophet Isaiah. Isaiah has spoken much about the Messiah who is about to come, and in Jesus that prophecy is perfectly fulfilled.

In Christ lies our salvation, and in Him is all hope, because the Lord has given to Him authority over all. He has been given the authority to rule all the nations, with an iron rule of justice and love. Through Christ we have a new way towards the Lord, and if we keep God’s commandment and do His will, Jesus will prepare rooms for us in His Father’s kingdom, just as Jesus had promised to the disciples.

Christ had to endure death to achieve His mission, that through His suffering on the way to Calvary, Christ justified us by the outpouring of His blood from His holy wounds. His wounds are our sins, past, present and future, all our faults and rebellions against God, and all our unworthiness that Christ bear unto Himself, that all who believe in Him may not die, but enjoy everlasting life, through Him.

For Christ in His death had destroyed our own deaths, our fate for having abandoned God and His commandments, that we inherited from our forefathers in their stubbornness against God’s will and God’s words through the prophets. He restored us then to life, when He rose again in a new life of glory, on Easter day, when He is risen from the dead.

Christ our Lord is truly the Lord of life, the living God, just as the Father is God of the living, that death has no more power over us, and therefore, Satan, who first instigated mankind in rebellion against God’s will, has no more power over us. For Satan and his evil advocates and allies controlled us and enthralled us through the agents of sin, which they propagated through worldly temptations.

This Easter season is a holy season, a good season indeed for the renewal of our faith and our dedication to God our Lord. We should make best use of this opportunity and let it not go to waste, by embracing our faith in the Lord ever more intimately and strongly, and embrace God’s love ever more within our hearts.

Do not harden our hearts and do not turn a deaf ear against the Lord’s will and words that He spoke to us, not by loud proclamations, but by simple and soft whispers in the depths of our hearts. If we remain faithful to Him, and keep our hearts, minds, and soul attuned to Him, we will be able to listen to Him speaking to us in our hearts, in silence, the words of truth, of life, and salvation.

Therefore, dear brothers and sisters in Christ, despite all our busy schedules and occupancies, we should always try to set aside some time for the Lord, spent in quiet contemplation, that we will be able to follow Him ever more, and take His message of eternal life into our own being. Let us never forget the greatness of His love and the sacrifice He had endured on Calvary, so that all of us may live, and not die, in eternal life. Amen.

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Friday, 26 April 2013 : 4th Week of Easter (Gospel Reading)

John 14 : 1-6

“Do not be troubled! Trust in God and trust in Me! In My Father’s house there are many rooms; otherwise, I would not have told you that I go to prepare a place for you. After I have gone and prepared a place for you, I shall come again and take you to Me, so that where I am, you also may be. Yet, you know the way where I am going.”

Thomas said to Him, “Lord, we don’t know where You are going; how can we know the way?” Jesus said, “I am the way, the truth, and the life; no one comes to the Father but through Me.”

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Friday, 26 April 2013 : 4th Week of Easter (Psalm)

Psalm 2 : 6-7, 8-9, 10-11

“Behold the King I have installed, in Zion, upon My holy hill!” I will proclaim the decree of the Lord. He said to Me : “You are My Son. This day I have begotten You.”

Ask of Me and I will give You, the nations for Your inheritance, the ends of the earth for Your possession. You shall rule them with iron sceptre and shatter them as a potter’s vase.

Now therefore, learn wisdom, o Kings; be warned, o rulers of the earth. Serve the Lord with fear and fall at His feet; lest He be angry and you perish when His anger suddenly flares. Blessed are all  who take refuge in Him!

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Friday, 26 April 2013 : 4th Week of Easter (First Reading)

Acts 13 : 26-33

Brothers, children and descendants of Abraham, and you also who fear God, it is to you that this message of salvation has been sent. It is a fact that the inhabitants of Jerusalem and their leaders did not recognise Jesus. Yet in condemning Him, they fulfilled the words of the prophets that are read every Sabbath, but not understood.

Even though they found no charge against Him that deserved death, they asked Pilate to have Him executed. And after they had carried out all that had been written concerning Him, they took Him down from the cross and laid Him in a tomb.

But God raised Him from the dead, and for many days thereafter He showed Himself to those who had come up with Him from Galilee to Jerusalem. They have now become His witnesses before the people. We ourselves announce to you this Good News : All that God promised our ancestors, He has fulfilled for us, their descendants, by raising Jesus, according to what is written in the second psalm : ‘You are My Son, today I have begotten You.’

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Wednesday, 24 April 2013 : 4th Week of Easter, Memorial of St. Fidelis of Sigmaringen, Priest and Martyr (Scripture Reflection)

Dear brothers and sisters in Christ, we are reminded today that Christ had come into our world as our salvation, to save us from our condemnation to death by our rebellion against the love of God. He came into our world as light that shed off the darkness that is in our world, and most importantly, the darkness that is within our hearts.

He had been sent into this world that it, together with all of us who lives in it, can be saved rather than cast off together with Satan and his angels into the sea of fire and eternal damnation and separation from God. God’s love desires that all mankind be reunited into Himself, and Christ, whose birth was announced by the prophets, did exactly just that, by serving as the bridge that spans heaven and earth, and linked mankind back to God their Father, providing the only path to salvation and eternal life.

Today, we also commemorate the feast day of St. Fidelis of Sigmaringen, who was a priest, and also a martyr, and while St. Adalbert whom we commemorated yesterday preached the Good News to the pagans, St. Fidelis who lived during the height of the Protestant Reformation and rebellion had to contend against the heretical Protestants, particularly the Calvinists in the region now known as Switzerland.

St. Fidelis fearlessly waged into the Calvinist strongholds and preached the true faith of the Church, against the erroneous beliefs of the Protestants of the era. Despite the harassment and hatred of those to whom he had ministered, and under the threat of death, St. Fidelis pressed on, and was finally martyred when he rejected outright the persuasion of Calvinist soldiers who pressed him to renounce his Catholic faith, and prayed for them, for the salvation of their souls.

In St. Fidelis, and in St. Adalbert, we saw the truth that is in God, which was revealed through Christ and made manifest in this world. Truth is hard, and it is difficult to be taken in by many, who preferred the lies of Satan to the truth of God. Yet, these saints strived to open the eyes of many who had been fooled by Satan and his earthly minions set to destroy God’s people by false prophets and ideas, and even braved martyrdom in the process.

In our modern day world, we may not see such similar scenario and condition as what the two saints had witnessed in their own times, but in fact, in our present day world, the need for the light of Christ to illuminate the hearts of many had never been greater. Many had abandoned God for the relative comfort of this world’s allures and temptations. The evil one has many ways to seduce mankind into his fold, and to abandon the path of God.

We can do our own part in evangelisation, and we do not even need to brave death as what the two martyrs had done, but most importantly, we begin from our own surroundings, that we show the truth of the Lord through our words and actions, to show the light of Christ through our own beings, and through what we are doing in our lives.

May God guide us always in our lives, and make us into lights for all mankind, that in us, those who have yet to believe in Christ or those who had abandoned Him will once again see the true Light that is Christ, our Lord and Saviour. Amen.

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Wednesday, 24 April 2013 : 4th Week of Easter, Memorial of St. Fidelis of Sigmaringen, Priest and Martyr (Gospel Reading)

John 12 : 44-50

Yet Jesus had said, and even cried out, “Whoever believes in Me, believes not in Me, but in Him who sent Me. And whoever sees Me, sees Him who sent Me. I have come into the world as light, so that whoever believes in Me may not remain in darkness.”

“If anyone hears My words and does not keep them, I am not the One to condemn him; for I have come, not to condemn the world, but to save the world. The one who rejects Me, and does not receive My word, already has a judge : the very word I have spoken will condemn him on the last day.”

“For I have not spoken on My own authority; the Father, who sent Me, has instructed Me in what to say and how to speak. I know that His commandment is eternal life, and that is why the message I give, I give as the Father instructed Me.”