Easter Homily

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Monday, 9 May 2022 : 4th Week of Easter (Homily and Scripture Reflections)

Liturgical Colour : White

Dear brothers and sisters in Christ, today as we listened to the words of the Scripture, we are all called to remember that each and every one of us are members of this same one Church, the One, Holy, Catholic and Apostolic Church, belonging to the one Body of Christ, with Christ Himself as the Head, Who is also our Good Shepherd. We are the lambs of the Lord’s flock and we have been called from the world by the Lord and been reunited into this one flock by His guidance and help. And all that are made possible because of His ever enduring love for each one of us, without exception, that even the least of us, and the worst sinners amongst us are called by God to return to Him.

Brothers and sisters, all of us have been separated from God due to sin, and sin is caused by our refusal to obey the Lord and His will. We trust instead in our own human desires and judgments, and we tend to deviate from the path that God has set before us and hence, ended up falling deeper and deeper into the wrong path in life. Yet, God has always ever been patient in reaching out to us, in patiently calling upon us to embrace Him, His compassionate love and mercy, and to be reconciled once again with Him. He, our ever loving Good Shepherd has looked upon each and every one of us, the members of His flock, with love and compassion, with the desire to be reunited with us, as He does not want us to be lost to Him.

That is what we have heard in our Gospel passage today, in the account of the Lord’s discourse to His disciples on the Good Shepherd. We heard the Lord referring to Himself as the Good Shepherd, and how He presaged what He would do Himself to save His flock, that by laying down His life, He has opened for us the path to salvation and eternal life with Him. He revealed to His disciples and hence also to all of us, through the Scriptures, how His love for each one of us is truly ever encompassing, ever present, and He would dedicate Himself to the Covenant He had made with all of us, protecting us and caring for us.

The Lord told all of us that as the Good Shepherd, He is not like that of the other hired men who were paid to look after the sheep, and did not know the sheep well. He made a comparison between what He would do and what those hired men did, as those hired men did not give themselves totally and wholeheartedly to the flock they were entrusted with, fleeing at the first sign of danger. Meanwhile, the Good Shepherd lays down His life for His sheep, and that was what the Lord had done, our of His love for us, when He willingly accepted and shouldered upon Himself the many punishments due for our sins, and lead us all to Himself through His Cross.

For God so loved the world, that He gave us His only begotten Son, so that all those who believe in Him may not perish but have eternal life. Such was the other words the Lord had spoken in another occasion in the Gospels. He came into our midst through His Son, so that by His actions, in gathering us, scattered throughout the world, and He has also reached out to the lost ones, like those who had been branded as sinners and unworthy of God, people like the tax collectors, prostitutes and adulterers, as well as those who had been crippled or afflicted by many diseases, and those possessed by the evil spirits.

Through this, God as our Good Shepherd leads everyone, all sinners back to Himself. He was patient and welcoming even to the Pharisees and many of the teachers of the Law who had constantly disagreed with Him and refused to listen to Him or believe in His truth. The Good Shepherd was patient in going forth, in looking out for His lost sheep, that they may be found once again, and be reconciled fully with Him, and that they all will be worthy to enter into the kingdom of eternal glory and true happiness together with Him. However, as we are also reminded today, the works of the Lord are far from being completed.

Brothers and sisters in Christ, in our first reading today from the Acts of the Apostles, we heard of how St. Peter spoke to the Jewish Christian converts regarding the matter of the outreach and approach in evangelisation to the Gentiles or the non-Jewish people. Quite a few of those Jewish Christians had once belonged to the Pharisees and the teachers of the Law who were very particular in terms of their adherence to the Jewish customs and laws, such as the enforcement of circumcision, the food and dietary prohibitions of the Jewish laws and customs, which would have made it very difficult for the Gentiles to accept the Christian faith or to live as Christians meaningfully.

Hence, St. Peter enlightened those hard-hearted Jewish Christians with the revelation of how God Himself had made known His desire to him, through a vision that he had received regarding the matter, as he saw the vision of a great many food and animals that are considered unclean according to the Jewish laws and customs. Naturally St. Peter refused to eat when the Lord asked him to eat from those food, but God showed and asked him to listen to him three times, and saying that he should not consider what God had deemed to be clean as unclean. This vision, coupled with what St. Peter himself experienced in meeting Cornelius and the other non-Jewish people who were interested in the Christian faith and truth remind us that God truly calls everyone to be His followers, to be gathered and reconciled to Him.

As our Good Shepherd, the Lord wants each and every one of us to find our way back to Him, and He called us all to return to Him and tasked His Church, disciples and servants to bring His salvation to all of the lost sheep of His flock. St. Peter and the other Apostles hence worked hard to spread the word of God and His salvation among the Gentiles just as much as they were labouring amongst the Jewish community. Through them and their successors, many people had managed to find their way back to the Lord, returning to the Holy Mother Church, to God’s loving embrace and forgiving mercy.

Now, brothers and sisters in Christ, all of us have also been called to do the same in our own lives. We are all called to be the ones to lead others to the Lord and His salvation, and in order to do that, we are challenged to live our lives in the most worthy way we can, so that in all things, our lives will reflect the light of God’s truth and love, and inspire many more people to follow Him. Let us all reflect the love and compassion that Jesus Christ, Our Lord and Good Shepherd has shown us. May God be with us always, and may He continue to guide us all through our journey of faith in life, now and always, leading us to the right path. Amen.

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Sunday, 8 May 2022 : Fourth Sunday of Easter, Good Shepherd Sunday and Vocation Sunday (Homily and Scripture Reflections)

Liturgical Colour : White

Dear brothers and sisters in Christ, this Sunday, the fourth Sunday in the season of Easter marks the occasion of Good Shepherd Sunday, or also known as the Vocation Sunday. This Sunday is called as such because the Gospel reading was taken from the Gospel of St. John, in which the Lord referred to Himself as the Good Shepherd and we, the people of God as His sheep and flock. Through Him, our Good Shepherd, the Lord has called on all of us to follow Him and return to Him, to no longer be lost and separated from Him, but be reunited with Him and becoming once again part of that one flock of God in His Church.

In our first reading today, all of us heard from the Acts of the Apostles the works of two of the Apostles, St. Paul and St. Barnabas who were travelling to Antioch in Pisidia in Asia Minor, where they preached about the Lord and His truth in the synagogue. The two Apostles spoke to a large gathering of both Jewish people and the non-Jewish people, the Gentiles. But their efforts in attracting so many people especially the Gentiles caused some among the Jews to be jealous and hostile to their popularity. It was likely that those Jewish people mentioned had belonged to the Pharisees or at least those who were sympathetic of the position of the Pharisees and their opposition against Jesus.

Hence, as we heard, while the Apostles managed to gain great support and following even from among the Gentiles, who were happy to hear the Good News presented to them, but those people who refused to believe in them were offended and angry at the popularity that St. Paul and St. Barnabas managed to get, and considered them as a threat to the way of life and the beliefs of those who held and clung on to the traditions of the Jewish customs as promoted and preserved by the Pharisees and the elders. As such, they did whatever they could to oppose the two Apostles, persecuting them and evicting them from their region.

Yet, the Apostles, St. Paul, St. Barnabas and the Twelve Apostles led by St. Peter all continued to labour hard for the Lord and His Church, going forth to many places and spreading the Good News passed onto them as the shepherds of the Lord’s flock, the servants of the one and true Good Shepherd of all. They proclaimed the Lord’s truth to all the people, to the Jewish people and the Gentiles alike, and although they encountered many opposition and rejection from those who refused to believe in God and His truth, persecuted and having to endure arrest, prison, torture and even martyrdom, they continued to proclaim the word of God faithfully and many others did flock to follow the Lord through them.

In our second reading today, we heard of the vision of St. John the Apostle from the Book of Revelations that he wrote, detailing what he had seen in the series of visions he received at the island of Patmos during his exile there. St. John saw the vision of innumerable holy men and women from across all time and places, all gathered together to proclaim the Lord and glorify Him, to praise Him on His Throne, as St. John saw Him, the victorious Lamb of God, Who has won the ultimate victory over sin, evil and death, and by His sacrifice on the Cross, He has gathered all of us as our Good Shepherd, leading us all to the path towards eternal life.

What victory is it about, brothers and sisters in Christ? It is the great triumph that God had won for us over the forces of evil and sin. We have been corrupted by sin ever since the beginning of time, when we succumbed to the temptations of the devil and allowed sin to enter into our hearts. Because of that, we have been scattered throughout the world and fell into darkness, becoming lost from the Lord, our Good Shepherd. But what is important is that, God’s love for us far surpasses His disgust and anger for our sins. He loves us all beyond anything else, and He created us in the first place because He loved us all. If He did not love us at all, He would not even have created us or given us a chance at all.

Therefore, in coming upon us Himself, through His Son, Our Lord Jesus Christ, the Divine Word Incarnate, the Lord came to us to show just how much He loved us all and how precious we truly are to Him. The Lord has come to gather us all from the far ends of the world, and to lead us all back to Himself just as He has long promised to us. And to this end, He has established His Church, and called us all to be part of that one flock that He has gathered together in His Name, and entrusted all of us to those whom He had called and dedicated to be shepherds modelled after Himself, the Good Shepherd.

St. Paul, St. Barnabas, the other Apostles and many other holy men and women of God, the saints all showed us what they had done in following the examples set by the Good Shepherd in helping many more lost souls, the lost sheep of the Lord to return to Him. Just as the Lord Himself also said in another occasion, that the good shepherd lays down his life for his sheep, hence, He Who laid down His own life for our salvation inspired His own servants, like St. Paul, St. Barnabas and many more to be willing to lay down their lives and to suffer for the sake of the Lord and His people. Through their courage and determination, countless souls had been saved, and many had been brought to reconciliation with God.

Brothers and sisters in Christ, as we commemorate this Good Shepherd Sunday, what we have just discussed earlier highlighted why we also mark the occasion of Vocation Sunday today. That is because while we remember the Lord, our Good Shepherd in all that He had done for us, we must not forget that He has called all of us to follow Him, and for all of us to embrace our respective calling in life and dedicate ourselves, in whichever capacity and ability we are able to commit, to embrace a good Christian vocation in life. And we must not think or misunderstand that vocation means only vocations to priesthood only.

That is because there are many vocations for us as Christians in the Church. Most prominent indeed are those whom God had called to serve Him wholeheartedly and completely as those who embrace the call to the priesthood as well as religious life. They have been called to serve the Lord and His people, following in the footsteps of the Apostles, in continuing their works of evangelisation and in ministering to the people of God. However, this does not mean that all the others who have not followed this same path then do not have any role to play in the works of the evangelisation or as part in the Lord’s mission entrusted to His Church.

On the contrary, as members of God’s Church, each and every one of us have very important roles to play, and the laity have immense role that all of them have to play and take part in faithfully and with commitment in order to make sure that the Church’s efforts and its missions will be successful. The responsibility for evangelisation and spreading the Good News of God is not that of the priests and religious, or missionaries alone. All the faithful people of God share in the same mission, inspired by the Good Shepherd, Our Lord’s own examples, His love and dedication for us, His lost sheep, in gathering all of them to His loving embrace.

That is why, all of us have to live our lives worthily of the Lord and doing whatever we can to contribute to the mission of the Church in reaching out to the lost sheep of the Lord’s flock, all those who have not yet known the Lord and His salvation, and all those who have fallen astray in the path towards God. Each one of us can help one another, and even the priests and missionaries need the constant support from every members of the Church so that they may be able to do their works effectively. It is indeed not easy to be priests, especially in our world today, and we need to support the priests, our shepherds, that they may be inspired to follow the path of their predecessors, the Apostles and their successors, and the Lord Himself, the Good Shepherd.

That is why all of us have to pray for our priests, for more vocations to the priesthood. But at the same time, should any of us are called to the priesthood, then we should not ignore that call either. A most common thing in the Church is that we do not mind if others are called to the priesthood, but when some parents encounter the fact that it is their own children who are called to the priesthood, or religious life, or other vocations that are not according to what they wanted, they became defensive or even putting objections to that vocation or desire of their own children. It is truly hypocritical if we want others to embrace their vocation but not those in our own families. Yet, sadly, this is one of the main reason why it is truly difficult for some to embrace their vocation to priesthood and religious life.

Now, at the same time, we must also not forget to reflect on our vocation as married people, as those who have been called to a life in matrimonial bond and in growing up faithful Christian families. As mentioned, that is also a very important vocation, and one that cannot be ignored. For faithful and committed Christian families are truly the bedrock of the Church, and the first places where our children will learn about the faith. If our Christian families are not founded upon firm faith and the strong desire to serve and follow God, then sooner or later, not only that we may lose a lot of our children to indifference to their faith, to apostasy and more, but the whole entire Church community will also be negatively affected.

There are also of course those among us called to other purposes in life, even those who are called to remain single and devote themselves to the Lord. Many of them are not even members of any religious orders, but they dedicated themselves to a particular purpose or some missions to do things for the good of others, and to advance the cause of the Lord, to proclaim His Good News and more. Those are also wonderful vocations that each one of us, should we be called, have to embrace as well. We are all called to different purposes in life and we really should do our best to follow Him, and commit ourselves to God as best as we can.

Therefore, brothers and sisters in Christ, on this Good Shepherd and Vocation Sunday, let us ask the Lord, our Good Shepherd, to guide us all and to give us the strength and courage so that we all can be faithful shepherds, role models and examples for one another in faith. Let our actions, words and deeds be inspiration at all times, and let more and more people come to believe in God through us. May each one of us devote more of our time and effort to follow our vocations in life, and may God, our loving Good Shepherd be with us always, now and forevermore. Amen.

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Saturday, 7 May 2022 : 3rd Week of Easter (Homily and Scripture Reflections)

Liturgical Colour : White

Dear brothers and sisters in Christ, today as we listened to the words of the Scriptures, we are reminded to remain true and faithful to the Lord, no matter what happens. We are reminded to stay committed to His truth even amidst the many challenges and trials that we may have to endure in order to live our lives in the way that the Lord has presented to us. The Lord revealed to us that becoming His disciples would not be an easy matter, and there would be hard truths that we have to accept and not only that, but to proclaim in our own communities.

In our Gospel reading today, taken from the Gospel of St. John, we heard the conclusion of the account of the Bread of Life discourse by the Lord Jesus to the people who were gathered to listen to Him, as He revealed to them the truth about Himself, as the One Who would give Himself for the salvation of the world, the Paschal Lamb, by Whose sacrifice all of mankind would be given the path out of the darkness of the world, and through Him all will once again be reconciled and reunited with God. He would offer Himself as the worthy sacrifice to the Father on our behalf, as the atonement for our sins, with His Body broken for us, and His Blood shed for our salvation.

Much like in the time of the original Passover during the Exodus of the Israelites who were enslaved under the tyranny of the Egyptians, the Passover lamb was slaughtered and its body broken and shared to be eaten by the members of all the people of Israel, while the blood marks the doorposts of the houses of the faithful, by which they were spared from the terrible punishment that God sent upon the land of Egypt, the Angels that brought God’s retribution and judgment upon all the firstborn children of Egypt. The Lord saved His people from destruction, and not only that, but made a Covenant with them, sealing them with the blood of a lamb.

Then, when the Lord Himself came into this world to save His people from the tyranny of sin and evil, He gave Himself as the Paschal Lamb, the Lamb of God, to be sacrificed and crushed for our sake. His own Precious Body and Blood given to us through the Holy Eucharist that He has instituted and given to His Church, to all of us, at the Last Supper and which was perfectly fulfilled through His Passion and death, His crucifixion on which He was laid as the sacrificial victim on the Altar of the Cross. His Blood flowed down from the Cross to the earth, marking each and every one of us who believe in Him, and who share in His Body and Blood, with faith, as His own beloved children and beloved people.

And having received and witnessed this truth, the Apostles and the disciples of the Lord went forth to proclaim the Lord to all the people, calling on them to believe in Him and to put their trust in Him, and no longer doubt in Him anymore but believe. The Lord entrusted to His Church and His disciples the very important mission of the conversion of the whole world, that all the children of man may come to be reconciled with God through Him. By His grace we have been offered this path out of the darkness and despair surrounding us, and He sent His disciples to come to us and to reach out to us, that now each one of us have become those who believe in Christ and share the gift of our baptism.

As we heard in our first reading from the Acts of the Apostles, detailing to us the works of the Apostles who ministered to the faithful and tirelessly travelling all over the region to proclaim the Lord to more people, we heard how St. Peter the Apostle performed a great miracle in raising up Tabitha, a faithful disciple and follower of the Lord who had fallen sick and died. St. Peter prayed over her and by the power of God raised her from the dead, much as how the Lord Jesus had once raised the daughter of the synagogue official, the son of the widow of Nain and also Lazarus, one of His own friends. By this act, we can see how the Lord’s truth was shown to all, that despite His passing from this world, His works remain through His Church and those to whom He has entrusted power and authority.

Brothers and sisters in Christ, let us all hence reflect on the meaning and significance of what we had heard in our Scripture readings today, and see in what way we can answer God’s call better, just as He has called us all to follow Him and to become His faithful disciples. We have to be active members of the Church and be courageous and proactive in living our lives in the most worthy way possible, by obeying God’s Law and commandments, and in leading a way of life that is truly in harmony with God and His truth. We are all the ones who have received the Lord Himself, His own Precious Body and Blood in the Holy Eucharist, a people He had set aside to be His own, blessed and called to be holy.

May all of us continue to strive to live in holiness and do our very best so that in our every words, actions and deeds, we may indeed be the source of inspiration and hope for many others, and that we may help more and more people to find their way to God and His salvation. Let us be strengthened by the Holy Eucharist that we have partaken, and remind ourselves to put our complete faith and trust in Him, Jesus Christ, the Bread of Life and Lamb of God, our Lord and Saviour, now and always. Amen.

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Friday, 6 May 2022 : 3rd Week of Easter (Homily and Scripture Reflections)

Liturgical Colour : White

Dear brothers and sisters in Christ, today as we listened to the words of the Scriptures, we are all presented today with the story of the conversion of St. Paul the Apostle, on how Saul the fanatical young Pharisee and persecutor of the early Church turned over a new leaf and became one of the most ardent defenders of the Christian faith. Then we also heard the account from the Gospels regarding the Lord speaking about Himself as the Bread of Life, in continuation from the readings of the past few days.

In our first reading today, we heard from the Acts of the Apostles, the account of the conversion of Saul the Pharisee as mentioned earlier. Saul was a young Pharisee who was very headstrong and fanatical in his beliefs, as he embarked on a campaign of extermination against the early Christians, whom he saw as the heretical followers of Jesus, Whom the Pharisees as part of the Sanhedrin had condemned to death and then crucified through the Romans as a false Messiah. Saul was convinced that what he was doing was the will of God.

But Saul was mistaken, and amidst his efforts to eradicate the Christians in Damascus, he encountered the Lord Who called him to repent and turn away from his wrong path. The Lord convinced Saul that in truth he had been pursuing the wrong actions and by his attitude and works, he had in fact persecuted the Lord Himself. Through His signs and works, He would convince Saul of the truth. And as Saul ended up being blinded and then later healed by the grace of God, he experienced a great change in heart and turned towards the Lord henceforth.

He turned towards the Lord, Who in our Gospel today preached to the people about Himself as the Bread of Life and how He would give them all His own Body and Blood to all of His beloved people to partake, to eat and drink of His Precious Body and Blood that in doing so, they may gain the assurance to eternal life and glory. They shall find the salvation that God has promised to them through His Son, the same Jesus Christ. Back then, they could not have understood yet what the Lord meant, and quite a few of His followers and disciples actually even left and abandoned Him after this Bread of Life discourse, as stated by the Gospel itself.

That moment was when the Lord revealed to the people of what He would do for the sake of their salvation. Later on, as shown at the Last Supper, when the Lord offered His Body and Blood to His disciples, in the form of bread and wine that they broke together and shared, those having been transformed by the power of God to the matter and reality of His own Body and Blood, through that act, linked to His Passion, sacrifice and death on the Cross, His act of supreme sacrifice and love just the day after on Good Friday, all of us have seen the Lord in His Body and Blood, in the Holy Eucharist He Himself has instituted and given to us through His Church.

And it was this same truth and revelation which Saul has turned towards, as he received the truth from God and His Holy Spirit, by the grace of baptism. He was awakened to the truth that he did not know earlier on, and hence it was why this most fanatical and fervent persecutor of early Christians turned towards the Lord with his newfound faith, having seen and witnessed the Lord and received His wisdom and truth. From then on, Saul, having changed his name to Paul would become an ever more courageous and fervent defender of the Christian faith and truth, and he would do a lot of works and efforts in ministering to the faithful people of God all throughout the Mediterranean and beyond, through his many Epistles and journeys.

Now, all of us as Christians have also been called by God to be His disciples, witnesses and missionaries, to be like St. Paul and the many other Apostles, disciples and the innumerable saints who had dedicated their lives and lived them worthily for the Lord, being great role models, examples and inspirations to help more and more people to come to the Lord and to know Him more. They proclaimed the Lord not just with mere words alone but also through actions, in their building of a vibrant Christian community founded upon God’s truth and love, and even more importantly, in how they loved each other and cared for the needs of those who are lacking and who are suffering.

Brothers and sisters in Christ, we are all therefore also called to do the same in our lives, to be exemplary and in following the laws and commandments of the Lord faithfully. And if God could call a great sinner like St. Paul, then why can’t we do the same like what he had done and answer God’s call with a firm conviction? Let us all do our best to proclaim the Lord and His truth, His love and salvation to all the nations, in every single things we say and do in life. Let us live our lives wholeheartedly and commit ourselves to the Lord, so that we may be ever courageous and true beacons of His light in our darkened world and times. May God bless us and all of our efforts and actions, now and always. Amen.

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Thursday, 5 May 2022 : 3rd Week of Easter (Homily and Scripture Reflections)

Liturgical Colour : White

Dear brothers and sisters in Christ, what we heard in our Scripture passages today are again reminders for us as Christians to be the active partakers of the mission of the Church in the mission to evangelise and reveal the truth of God to more people of all the nations. We are all members of God’s Church and we are all expected to bear His truth and light to more people throughout the world, following in the examples of the Apostles and the other holy saints, holy men and women of God. We have to proclaim the Lord in all of our words, actions and deeds throughout life.

In our first reading today, we heard from the Acts of the Apostles the moment when St. Philip the Apostle encountered an Ethiopian official who was on his way home from Jerusalem. The official was reading the passage of the Scripture from the prophet Isaiah speaking about the Messiah, when St. Philip accompanied the official and explained the meaning of the Scriptures to him, and revealing that everything that he read in the Scriptures had been fulfilled in Christ, the One Whom God had sent into the world to save all mankind.

The Apostles had witnessed the Lord and His works, His many miracles and wonders, listened to His words and teachings, and they had also witnessed His suffering, death and resurrection from the dead. They had also received the gift of the Holy Spirit which strengthened them and gave them the courage to proclaim their faith in the Lord to all the people that they went to, and in the case of St. Philip, he proclaimed the Lord and all of His truth and works truthfully before the Ethiopian official, who therefore became convinced of everything he had heard, and that led him to desire to be baptised.

That was how the Apostles continued to reach out and touched the lives and hearts of those who came even from the distant, foreign lands, and from there, brought forth the truth of the Lord to more and more people. They revealed the truth about Christ, the Bread of Life, Who has delivered His truth into the world, just as we heard it and are reminded of by our Gospel passage today. Christ is the Bread of Life, the Son of God Who has laid down His life for us, obeying the will of His heavenly Father for our sake, so that by His suffering, death and resurrection, we may have new life and be reconciled with God.

In that Gospel passage, we heard the continuation of the account of the Lord speaking to the disciples and the other people on Him being the Bread of Life. The Lord Jesus referred to Himself as the Bread of Life to the consternation of the people listening to Him, as they must have been astounded hearing that He would give them all His own Body and Blood to eat and drink, and comparing what they would have against the bread of heaven that their ancestors once had, the manna, during the time of their Exodus out of Egypt and journey in the desert towards the Promised Land. He said clearly that those who partake of His Body and Blood will have eternal life.

And that was exactly what He would do later on, although the people who were listening to Him could not have realised or understood what He was going to do. The Lord gave to us all His Precious Body and Blood through the Eucharist, which He gave to us all through His Church and His Apostles. He completed His offering and sacrifice through His Passion, suffering and death on the Cross, and by His wounds and by His Body and Blood shared with us, we have been made partakers of His New and Eternal Covenant, sealed by His own Blood, and which He Himself offered as our Eternal High Priest.

Having seen and witnessed all these themselves, and having been empowered by the Holy Spirit, the Lord’s disciples hence gave their all to proclaim the salvation of God and His truth to more and more people they encountered, much as how St. Philip spoke the truth to the Ethiopian official, gaining yet another person to the Lord’s cause. It is then also our own duty and mission as Christians to be the propagator and missionaries of Christ’s truth and the love of God, all that He had done for our salvation in each and every opportunities that we have been given. Each and every one of us have this important mission to be disciples of Our Lord and His witnesses in our respective communities today.

Brothers and sisters in Christ, let us all follow the examples of the Apostles and the many other disciples of the Lord, the many holy men and women, the various saints and martyrs who had gone before us, and whose lives are truly inspiration for us to follow in how we ought to live our lives with faith and dedication to God. We are all called to serve the Lord and do our best to bring His truth upon this world today. We do not have to do great and amazing things, as even the smallest and simplest things we do will matter a lot in leading more and more souls towards the salvation in God. May God be with us and may He continue to help us living our lives with faith and as Christ-like as possible. Amen.

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Wednesday, 4 May 2022 : 3rd Week of Easter (Homily and Scripture Reflections)

Liturgical Colour : White

Dear brothers and sisters in Christ, today as we continue to progress through the Easter season and listened to the words of the Scriptures, we are reminded of the works of the Apostles who ministered to the people of God, proclaiming the Gospels and the word of God’s truth and salvation to them, caring for their sick and many more, building up the Church community and sharing in the Eucharist, the same Bread of Life that is Jesus Christ, Our Lord and Saviour, Who had commissioned the Apostles and His Church to go forth to the nations and proclaim His Good News and truth to them.

In our first reading, as mentioned, from the Acts of the Apostles we heard how the despite the persecution that the Church began to face from the Jewish authorities and its other opponents, especially after the martyrdom of St. Stephen, the first martyr of the Church, the Apostles despite being scattered all over Judea and in other places, tried their best to continue the works of God, ministering to the people of God, proclaiming the truth and salvation in Jesus Christ, and despite the hardships and trials they had to endure, the early Christian communities continued to grow and flourish, spreading even beyond the lands of Judea, Samaria and Galilee.

This had to be credited to the hard work and labour of the Apostles, who went through the land, with the other disciples of the Lord, evangelising to those who have not yet heard about the Lord and His actions, His teachings and truths. Often times they had to do things in secret, hiding from the persecution of the authorities, which chronologically at that time was intensifying and led by Saul, one of the young Pharisees who zealously persecuted the faithful people of God, before later on he himself would be converted to be the Lord’s disciples as St. Paul the Apostle. Regardless of the hardships, the Church continued to grow and flourish.

The Apostles and disciples of the Lord continued to work for the greater glory of God, to speak about Him, the One Whom in our Gospel passage today referred to Himself as the Bread of Life. They had seen the Lord Himself, Who at that time referred to Himself as the Bread of Life and said that He would give them His own flesh to eat and His own Blood for them to drink. They would not have understood it yet at that time, but later on, they would witness the Passion, the suffering and death of the same Lord, Who offered Himself on the Cross as the perfect and worthy offering and sacrifice for the atonement of our sins.

The Apostles witnessed the Lord’s sacrifice and death, and how at the Last Supper He gave Himself to His disciples, which meaning again eluded them until they saw His suffering and death, and eventually after the Holy Spirit came to them, giving them the wisdom and strength, the understanding and knowledge to know what the Lord had done for His people, in offering Himself and sharing in His Body and Blood with us all that we may share in the eternal life He has promised us, that in His own words He Himself had said that those who eat of His flesh and drink His Blood will not perish, but have eternal life.

Through Him, and the gift of the Eucharist to the Apostles, the Lord had made all of us partakers of His Covenant and the members of His Church. The Apostles proclaimed the Lord to the people who have not yet seen or heard of Him so that they too may become part of the ever growing Church of God and find their way to His salvation and eternal life, by their faith and trust in the same Lord Jesus, the Bread of Life and Lamb of God, Who had given Himself for the life of all mankind, for the salvation and liberation of all the beloved children of God from the tyranny of sin and death.

Now, brothers and sisters in Christ, we ourselves are part of this Church of God, and we share in the same mission that the Lord had entrusted to His Apostles and disciples. The Lord has called us all to be His missionaries, to be His witnesses and be the ones to proclaim His truth to all the nations. If we are all wanting to be better disciples of the Lord, then we should also proclaim the Lord, the Bread of Life and the Saviour of all to whoever it is that we encounter in life. And lest we think that we are incapable of doing so, the Lord calls us to do whatever we can, in our own capacity and within the opportunities that He had presented to us.

Are we willing then to commit our time and effort to walk in the path trodden by the Apostles? Are we willing and able to dedicate ourselves to the service of God and do our best to glorify the Lord by our very own lives and actions? Let us all be sources of inspiration for one another so that by our lives we may inspire more and more people to come to believe in God because they can see the love and truth of God through us and our exemplary way of life. May God bless us all and our efforts and actions, now and always. Amen.

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Tuesday, 3 May 2022 : Feast of St. Philip and St. James, Apostles (Homily and Scripture Reflections)

Liturgical Colour : Red

Dear brothers and sisters in Christ, today the Church celebrates the glorious Feast of not just one but two of the Lord’s glorious Apostles, two of the Twelve Apostles, namely that of St. Philip and St. James, the two faithful servants of God who had dedicated their lives in the service of God, and who had persevered despite the challenges and trials they had to endure as part of their ministry. Both of them laboured hard to spread the words of the Gospels and the Good News to the far corners of the world, enduring many sufferings and joy during their ministries, and eventually martyrdom for the sake of the Lord and His Church. They are celebrated together because historically, their relics were translated to Rome on the same day.

St. Philip was one of the Lord’s closest disciples who was mentioned in several occasions in the Gospels, especially in the Gospel of St. John, one of which accounts was part of our Gospel passage today. St. Philip was mentioned in today’s Gospel when he asked the Lord Jesus to show him and the other disciples the Father, God the heavenly Father Whom Jesus had been speaking about. This was met with the incredulous words from the Lord as He told St. Philip and the other disciples that they had seen the Father just as they had seen Him, all because He and the Father are One, and seeing Him means that one has seen the Father manifested in the flesh, as the Lord Jesus was indeed the Divine Word of God Incarnate.

St. Philip was also mentioned when the Lord miraculously fed five thousand men and many others with just five loaves of bread and two fishes, which was our Gospel passage just a few days ago. He was the one to present the food offered by a child to the Lord, and was also the one who introduced Nathanael, also known as St. Bartholomew the Apostle, to the Lord. He was also the one who proclaimed the Lord to the Ethiopian official as recorded in the Acts of the Apostles early in the Church history. And later on, he was also involved in many works of evangelisation, preaching the Gospels and the Good News to the people in far off places, in Greece, parts of Syria and Asia Minor in Phrygia.

Meanwhile, St. James, also known as St. James the Less, to distinguish him from St. James the Greater, the brother of St. John the Apostle, was identified as either St. James, son of Alphaeus or as St. James, one of the brothers or more accurately, relatives of the Lord Jesus. He was called ‘Less’ because of his relatively shorter stature as compared to St. James the Greater, and he was a relative of one other follower of Jesus, identified as Mary, wife of Cleopas. He was often widely credited with the authorship of the Epistle of St. James, and he was also involved in many evangelising missions in various places, although the details were less than that was available for St. Philip and the other more renowned Apostles.

Regardless of the details of their exact activities and involvements in the Church and its missions, what we all ought to know is the fact that each and every one of them and the other Apostles had dedicated their whole lives in the service of God, and having been encouraged and strengthened by the Holy Spirit, they had proclaimed the Lord with joy and fervour, seeking to glorify Him by their lives, by their every words and actions. And those Apostles did not fear even persecutions, trials, sufferings and challenges in life, and they bore their crosses with true dedication and love for God and His people.

As we come together today to celebrate and mark the great memories of these two wonderful saints, the Holy Apostles of Our Lord, St. Philip and St. James, we are all called to reflect on ourselves and on our own calling in life. Each one of us as Christians are disciples and followers of the Lord, and we are all called to the same mission that the Lord has entrusted to His Apostles. The Lord has given to us the mission to reach out to more people among the nations, that we may be the genuine witnesses of His truth, love and resurrection among all the people of God. We are the ones to be the beacons of God’s light in our respective communities today.

The question is, are we all ready and willing to embark on this journey of faith, together with God and following in the footsteps of the Apostles like St. Philip and St. James? Are we also willing to make sacrifices of time and effort, offering our best to serve the Lord and to be the examples and inspirations for one another, that we may ever be more courageous in living our lives with faith? Each and every one of us have been given and entrusted with the mission to call more and more people to the light and truth of God. We have to make that conscious effort to live our lives worthily and devote ourselves thoroughly to His cause from now on.

Let us all therefore do our best to serve the Lord by our every contributions, even to the smallest and seemingly least significant actions we do. For it is by our combined works and efforts that God will extend His reach and works ever more gloriously among His people. Let us all spend more time in building up our relationship with God and in deepening our understanding of our faith, so that we may be truly inspirational to all those who witness our lives and works. Let us walk in the path of the Apostles and do whatever we can to proclaim the Lord in each and every moments of our lives. May God bless us always in our every efforts and good works, now and forevermore. St. Philip and St. James, Holy Apostles of the Lord, pray for us sinners. Amen.

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Monday, 2 May 2022 : 3rd Week of Easter, Memorial of St. Athanasius, Bishop and Doctor of the Church (Homily and Scripture Reflections)

Liturgical Colour : White

Dear brothers and sisters in Christ, today as we listened to the words of the Scriptures, we are presented with the nature of our faith, this faith that we have in the Lord Jesus Christ, Our Saviour. Each and every one of us as Christians are called to proclaim the Lord and His truth through our lives and actions, in everything we say and do. We ought to do what the Apostles and all the holy men and women of God had done before us, in proclaiming the Messiah, Jesus Christ, the One from Whom the salvation of the world had come from.

In our first reading today, we heard of the story of the time when St. Stephen, one of the seven first deacons of the Church, was confronted by the opponents of the Church, those who refused to believe in God and His truth as revealed through the Lord Jesus and His Apostles. The Sanhedrin and all those who have arrested and oppressed the Apostles tried a lot of effort to suppress the rapidly spreading Christian teachings and faith. And in order to do that, they even chose to employ false witnesses and other methods to try to persecute the disciples of the Lord like St. Stephen.

Hence, St. Stephen encountered great difficulty in going against the plots of those who sought to destroy him, against the authorities with the power to persecute him and who turned the people against him. Yet, he remained firm in his faith and convictions, not fearing the repercussions and threats against himself, but instead, inflamed by the Holy Spirit, encouraged and strengthened, he preached about the Lord and Saviour, openly proclaiming Him before the people, revealing all that God had done to them through His Son, Whom they had recently persecuted and gave to the Romans to be crucified, died and then risen in glory for the salvation of all the people.

Those false witnesses employed against him tried to bring St. Stephen down, and they used increasingly desperate means to discredit him, and yet, the great wisdom and courage that St. Stephen had shown would overpower whatever wicked means and plots arrayed against him. The Lord was working through His servant, and now, many years after his martyrdom, we are still inspired by the great courage and dedication that St. Stephen had shown, in facing even persecution, suffering and death squarely in the face, never once flinching or giving in to his fears and doubts, because he trusted fully in the Lord and His providence.

In our Gospel passage today, we heard of the interactions between the Lord Jesus and the multitudes of people who had followed Him and tried to follow Him wherever He went. They followed the Lord and He pointed out that they followed Him because of their desires to be satisfied and fulfilled, by the amazing miracles that He performed, particularly that of the miraculous feeding of the five thousand men and many more. The Lord knew that in the hearts and minds of those people, there were still yet doubts and lacking in genuine faith, and hence, He wanted to convince and persuade them to truly believe in Him and His truth, and not just superficially showing their faith.

This reminds all of us of the very important mission that God has entrusted to us as Christians, that each and every one of us ought to proclaim the Lord, our God and Saviour, His love and compassionate mercy, His kindness and His truth to all the people, to everyone we encounter throughout life. We are all called to be the ministers of God, following in the footsteps of St. Stephen, the Apostles and the many other saints and martyrs, all those who have devoted their time and life, who have often suffered for the sake of the Lord, His Church and His people. We are all called to continue their efforts and works in our own ways.

Today, we celebrate the feast of St. Athanasius, the great and renowned Church father and Doctor of the Church, who was especially remembered for his dedication in defending the orthodox and true Christian faith and teachings against the dangerous influence and the falsehoods of the many heresies and false teachings that were running rampant during his time and ministry, threatening to destroy the unity and harmony within the Church, and also threatening to mislead countless souls down the path towards damnation. Against this, St. Athanasius persevered faithfully, committing his time and effort to go against those who proclaim those falsehoods, much like how St. Stephen himself had courageously proclaimed the Lord before those who persecuted him.

St. Athanasius was the Pope and Patriarch of Alexandria whose tenure of work and ministry happened after the important Ecumenical Council of Nicaea. He led the Church in Alexandria and beyond against the heresy of Arius, the popular preacher who initiated the Arian heresy and controversy, who amassed a large following and support even amongst the bishops and the powerful rulers of the Roman Empire. However, that did not deter St. Athanasius from persevering in his efforts to bring the people of God and the Church out from the erroneous teachings of heretics like Arius among others, and even though he had to endure about seventeen years in various exiles from his See due to the opposition against him, he endured in his faith and struggle to the very end.

In what he would later be well known for, St. Athanasius was credited with the authorship or as the inspiration for the later codified Athanasian Creed, the expanded version of the Niceno-Constantinopolitan Creed that emphasised heavily on the true nature of God, the relationship of the Members of the Holy Trinity, the Father, the Son and the Holy Spirit, against the erroneous heretical teachings, particularly that of Arius and his Arian heresy and which is recited especially on this day, his feast day. St. Athanasius showed all of us, just as St. Stephen had done, what being true Christians is all about, to stand up for our faith and proclaim the truth of God, faithfully and courageously even amidst opposition and oppression.

Brothers and sisters in Christ, are we able to commit ourselves in the same way as St. Athanasius, St. Stephen and the many other holy servants of God had done? Are we able and willing to follow the Lord faithfully and wholeheartedly, and making use of the various talents, gifts and opportunities that He had provided for us, so that we may glorify the Lord by our lives, by our words, actions and deeds? Let us all reflect carefully on how we can be ever better and more committed disciples of His, from now on. May God be with us always, and may He strengthen us that we will remain faithful and true to our calling, and be courageous in proclaiming our faith in our respective lives, now and always. Amen.

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Sunday, 1 May 2022 : Third Sunday of Easter (Homily and Scripture Reflections)

Liturgical Colour : White

Dear brothers and sisters in Christ, this Sunday, the third in the glorious and joyous season of Easter, all of us are called to remember once again, through the Sacred Scriptures, of the reason why we celebrate this season and why we rejoice so happily, all because of the great victory and triumph that Our Lord and Saviour has won for us, that by His death and resurrection, He has purchased for all of us, the freedom and liberation from the tyranny of sin and death. Through Him, all of us have received the assurance of eternal life and true joy, assured of the final victory that will come with Him, if we remain faithful and steadfast, staying true to Him to the very end.

In our first reading today, we heard from the Acts of the Apostles of the confrontation between the Apostles and disciples of the Lord led by St. Peter, against the Sanhedrin, the powerful High Council of the Jewish people led by the High Priest, who had arrested the Apostles and ordered them to stop preaching in the Name of the Risen Lord. At that time, the Lord had risen and ascended into Heaven, and the Holy Spirit had descended upon the Apostles, whom encouraged and strengthened by the Holy Spirit, went forth to proclaim courageously the truth about God and His salvation, in Jesus Christ, the same One Whom the Sanhedrin had arrested and accused, sent to the Romans to be crucified and killed.

The Apostles, led by St. Peter firmly and courageously refused to remain silent or to obey the order of the High Priest and the Sanhedrin, as they had been tasked and entrusted by God with the very important mission of revealing the truth and the Good News of His salvation, His great and amazing love, all that He had done for the sake of His beloved people through Jesus Christ, the Son of God, Who had cone into this world to gather all the lost sheep of His flock, and lead them to the reconciliation with God and hence, the assurance and certainty of eternal life. And the Apostles had been entrusted with the role as shepherds in the image of the one and true Good Shepherd, Christ Himself, to lead the people of God towards Him.

Despite the threats and warnings that the Sanhedrin gave to them, the Apostles were not afraid at all. They proclaimed courageously their Lord and Saviour, Whom they had witnessed and seen Risen from the dead with their own eyes, witnessed Him performing His miracles even before He had gone through His Passion, suffering, death and resurrection, and as we also heard from our Gospel passage today, they had also seen and witnessed the miracles that God continued to perform after He had risen from the dead. They had been called and sent forth by the Lord, and they would not betray or abandon their Lord and Master.

In our Gospel passage today, we heard from the Gospel of St. John detailing to us what happened that day when the Lord appeared to His disciples in Galilee just not long after He had risen from the dead. He has told the women who witnessed His resurrection that He would go before His disciples to Galilee, and He would see them there later on. Before this, He Himself had also appeared to His disciples in two occasions just as we heard it in our last Sunday’s Gospel, where St. Thomas who earlier on doubted the Lord’s resurrection was dumbstruck in awe and finally believed when the Lord appeared before him and the other disciples in the flesh. He showed them that He had truly risen from the dead.

Then, as we heard today’s Gospel passage, we heard how the disciples had been out fishing in the lake for the entire night without success, before that morning when the Lord appeared to them on the shore, but without them recognising Him at first. The Lord told them to follow His instructions, and they immediately captured a large number of fishes, more than what they could manage. It was there and then that St. Peter recognised the Lord and immediately, he jumped into the water to come to the Lord. It was there and then that the disciples yet again saw the Risen Lord, His love for them and the mission which He had entrusted to them to do.

We also heard of the Lord’s exchanges with St. Peter after their meal, in which the Lord asked St. Peter, ‘Peter, do you love Me?’ To which St. Peter responded with, ‘Yes, Lord, You know that I love You.’ And the Lord then responded with, ‘Feed My lambs’. This was repeated three times in a very symbolic mirror and reversal of St. Peter’s own three times denial of the Lord at the time of His Passion. It shows that the Lord had forgiven St. Peter and not only that, but He was entrusting His Church and all of His flock, the lambs that He had called and gathered from among the nations, to St. Peter, just as He had earlier on established His Church on the firm foundation of this ‘Rock’ that is St. Peter and his faith.

St. Peter might have been illiterate, brash and impulsive at times, doing things like cutting the ears of the High Priest’s servant when the guards were about to arrest the Lord, and he might have also been fearful and shaken in faith, as how he denied knowing the Lord three times, but in the end, the Lord chose him to be the leader of His entire Church and to be the leader of the Apostles, because He knew what his faith and love for Him were like. The Lord saw deep in the people’s hearts and minds, and He saw in St. Peter, a true faith and commitment, and which strengthened and encouraged by all that he himself witnessed, and by the power of the Holy Spirit, hence, he courageously led the Apostles in resisting the efforts of the Sanhedrin to silence them.

In our second reading, we heard of the reading from the Book of Revelations of St. John, in which St. John the Apostle saw the great heavenly vision, of the Lamb of God, Christ Himself, and His Throne in Heaven, and how all the twenty-four elders assembled, the Angels and all the countless millions upon millions of the faithful of all the ages praised and worshipped Him, glorious, triumphant and victorious, seated on His Throne, having conquered evil, sin and death, and in that vision, St. John related to us how the same triumphant Lamb of God will come again in His Second Coming, to claim all of His beloved and faithful ones to Himself. He will gather all of His faithful ones and lead them towards His light.

Brothers and sisters in Christ, all that we have heard from the Scriptures today are what the Apostles had witnessed, experienced and received from the Lord throughout their labours and ministries among the people of God. They had seen the Risen Lord, all of His truth and wonders. The Lord was with all of them and His Church, and He would lead them to the ultimate victory, that despite all the challenges and trials that they would face, but He is with them, and He will never abandon them, and He entrusted to them the great mission to spread His love and truth to all the peoples of all the nations. Just as we heard in our Gospel today, the disciples managed to gather so many fishes upon the Lord’s arrival and them following His instructions.

All of these remind us that each and every one of us as members of the Church of God are part of the same mission which He has entrusted to His Apostles and disciples all those years ago. What is this mission, brothers and sisters in Christ? The Lord called His disciples to be the fishers of men, to gather all the people to Himself, all the lost sheep to be gathered once again. St. Peter was entrusted with the leadership of the Church, in ‘feeding’ the lambs of the Lord, in caring for all of them as the members of the Church, called and chosen from the world. His works and that of the other Apostles had been passed down to their successors, right to this very present day, in the bishops and priests.

But these works and ministries are not their responsibilities alone, brethren. As members of God’s Church, we also share part of the responsibility to be the witnesses and bearers of God’s truth. The Apostles and many others had witnessed this truth, and they suffered great persecutions for their faith, and yet they endured because they trusted in the Lord and they wanted all their fellow brothers and sisters to be saved in Jesus Christ, their Lord and Saviour. They passed this faith and truth to us so that we too may be moved and inspired to follow in their footsteps and do our part as Christians to be the Lord’s faithful disciples in our respective communities today.

This means that we are all sharers in the mission of the Church to reach out to those who have not yet known the Lord or are still living in darkness of sin, in denial of the Lord’s truth and love, and in rebellion against Him. We are all called to be courageous like the Apostles in proclaiming the truth about the Lord, His love and compassion for us, His resurrection and all that He had done for our sake as Our Lord and Saviour. We are all called to be exemplary in our actions and way of life so that by our works and deeds, our contributions and even in the smallest and simplest things we do, we may inspire others to believe in God as well.

We do not have to do great and wonderful things, brothers and sisters. As I said, even in the smallest and simplest things we do in life, we can touch the lives of others, inspire others to come to believe in God as well. It is in the ordinary things we do that God is glorified, and we must not forget that we cannot be idle and ignorant of our calling and obligations in life as part of the same Church of God. Remember brothers and sisters, that Our Lord Himself said that, unless we carry our crosses and follow Him, we cannot be His true disciples and followers. If we want to be truly Christians, then we have to commit ourselves to the Lord wholeheartedly.

Are we then willing and able to commit ourselves to God in the same way the Apostles and disciples of the Lord had done? Are we willing to spend the time and effort to follow the Lord and to do His will, in all the things we say and do? Let us do whatever we can as Christians, as Our Lord’s disciples, to proclaim Him in our communities and in whatever opportunities we have, that we may indeed be good role models and inspirations for others to follow just as we ourselves look up to the Apostles for inspiration. May Our Risen Lord be with us always, bless our works and efforts, and guide us in our journey and faith. May God be with us all, now and forevermore. Amen.

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Saturday, 30 April 2022 : 2nd Week of Easter, Memorial of Pope St. Pius V, Pope (Homily and Scripture Reflections)

Liturgical Colour : White

Dear brothers and sisters in Christ, today we listened to the words of the Lord speaking to us regarding the trust and faith that we must have in the Lord, because even with all the trials and challenges that we may have to face in this world, the Lord is surely with us and He will never abandon us, and He will guide and lead us down the right path, as long as we are willing to follow Him wholeheartedly. The Lord has also called His servants and those among us whom He had chosen to be the ones to care and minister to the needs of the Christian community as we heard in our Scripture passage today from the Acts of the Apostles.

In that first reading from the Acts of the Apostles, we heard of the conflict that occurred in the early Church in the group called the Hellenists, which signified one of the earliest groups within the early Christian community, a division that was bound to happen due to the diverse nature of the first Christians and the community built by the Apostles. As detailed elsewhere in the Acts of the Apostles and the Epistles, there were disagreements, divisions and even conflicts between the early Christians who still considered themselves part of the Jewish community and hence vigorously practiced and even pressured others to follow the Jewish practices, and the Gentiles or the non-Jewish people who became believers, and yet there were also the Jewish converts who were sympathetic to the Gentiles and desired to accommodate them, and those were the Hellenists.

Unfortunately, it was likely that those divisions and disagreements between the various parties led to the discrepancy in the distribution of goods and others to the Christian families and communities. As such, the Apostles, guided by the Holy Spirit decided to appoint several men who were tasked with the care of the community, making sure that all of the faithful and their needs are taken care of. These seven holy men dedicated by the Apostles would become the first deacons of the Church and hence became the institution of the Order of Deacons or the Diaconate.

Through those deacons, most renowned of which was St. Stephen, who would become the first martyr of the Church, the love of God and His providence were shown to all the people, as those deacons reached out to the people of God, ministering to them and caring for their needs. They were also at the forefront of the works of evangelisation and in facing the various peoples that they had been sent to, which in the case of St. Stephen resulted in him being persecuted and was then stoned to death by those who opposed him and the Christian faith and truth that he had been speaking about.

In our Gospel passage today, we heard of the moment when the Lord appeared before His disciples in the middle of a great storm in the sea of Galilee. They were in their boat, amidst all the storm and the winds, the waves and others, when the Lord appeared to them while walking on the water. The disciples were all frightened but the Lord reassured them that it was indeed Him that they had seen. The Lord then calmed the storm and the waves to the astonishment of the disciples. And through this, we had seen how God would not leave His beloved ones alone, and He would always take good care of them.

In that Gospel passage we see the symbolism of the Church through the disciples and their boat in the midst of the storm. The boat is the representation of the Church, with the disciples representing all of us the faithful people of God. The storm and the waves represent the many trials and challenges facing the Church, all the opposition, persecution and difficulties that we as the faithful may encounter in our lives as Christians. But we must not be afraid as the Lord will always be with us and He will never abandon us in our time of need. God will always be by our side no matter what.

Brothers and sisters in Christ, as we listened to the words of the Scriptures, we are all reminded that we have the calling and mission to reach out to our fellow brothers and sisters, committing our lives to the good works entrusted to us through the Church. We are all the successors of the Lord’s disciples and the ones who are tasked to be His witnesses in our world today. Each and every one of us by our calling have been entrusted with the mission to preach the Good News of God’s salvation to more people all over around the whole world. As His witnesses and disciples we are called to proclaim His light and hope amidst our darkened world.

Today, we should draw inspiration from one of our holy predecessors, namely Pope St. Pius V, a great and dedicated leader of the Church who led the Church and all the faithful during a particularly difficult period of time in the Church history. He was prominent in his role in the Ecumenical Council of Trent and also his contributions before he even became the Pope and thus leader of all Christendom. He led the Church during the crucial years in which it was fighting both internal divisions and the changes and instabilities caused by the Protestant heresy and falsehoods, among other political conflicts, as well as the external threats from the forces of the Ottoman Turks threatening to conquer the lands of Christendom.

Yet, Pope St. Pius V persevered through all those challenges and entrusted himself and the Church to the Lord. He led the Church to implement the many important reforms and changes made at the Council of Trent, and helped to enforce its decrees on the many segments of the Church, rooting out the corruptions and excesses within the Church, while restoring many of the people who had been misguided and misled by falsehoods back into the truth of God in the Church. He also helped to assemble the great Christian alliance that managed to win a great victory over the Ottoman Turks at the Battle of Lepanto.

Brothers and sisters in Christ, inspired by the great examples set by Pope St. Pius V and the many other holy saints, holy men and women of God, let us all continue to strive to be faithful to God, to dedicate ourselves wholeheartedly to Him. Let us all do our best, in whatever way we can, to dedicate ourselves to the Lord and to proclaim His truth and love in our various communities, even through the smallest things we say and do in our lives. May God bless us all and may He empower each one of us to be faithful to Him, now and always, evermore. Amen.