Easter Homily

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Thursday, 5 May 2016 : Solemnity of the Ascension of the Lord (Homily and Scripture Reflections)

Liturgical Colour : White

Dear brothers and sisters in Christ, today is a day of great rejoicing and great celebrations, for all of us commemorate today the day when our Lord Jesus Christ, our Saviour and our God, rose up into the glory of Heaven, ascending on the clouds of power, returning to the place where He came from, in order to prepare everything for us, for the time when He will come again to bring us all into the eternal glory He has designed for us.

Today’s celebration marks the culmination of the earthly works and ministry of our Lord, Who had been willing to come down from His heavenly glory, and assuming our humble form, and to suffer as we mankind have suffered, and embracing and taking upon Himself all the multitudes of our sins, that by His suffering and death on the cross, He might bring all mankind into the salvation He promised them, and liberate them from the forces of evil and darkness surrounding them.

By His resurrection our Lord had defeated death, showing to us all that if we are faithful to Him, death has no power over us, and no longer shall we despair or fear death, as death is not the end, but instead, the beginning of a new life with God that far exceeds whatever life and whatever joy and happiness that we have in our life currently on this earth.

The Ascension of our Lord Jesus Christ into heaven is therefore the final stage of that truth which our Lord is showing all those who believe in Him. We too shall ascend in glory at the end of time, and when the Lord comes again as He has promised even as He ascended into heaven, He shall bring us all who are faithful to Him, into the everlasting inheritance, the true joy and happiness that is the share of those who keep their faith in God.

After His ascension, indeed, we no longer see Jesus face to face as what the Apostles did. They were blessed indeed to have been able to walk with our Lord, and be in the presence of our Lord Jesus, including those disciples and the people to whom Jesus had ministered to. And those to whom Jesus appeared after His resurrection had witnessed indeed His might and power, the Conqueror of death and the Giver of life.

But that does not mean that we who no longer see Christ our Lord is abandoned by God. We may no longer see Him as the Apostles did, but He is here with us, and He will always be with us, even without us knowing it. He has given us all His Body and Blood in the Eucharist, which He instituted and passed on to His Apostles and disciples, that by the bread and wine changed into the substance of His own Body and Blood, our Lord is truly present in our midst, and indeed, inside each and every one of us who faithfully and worthily received the Lord in the Eucharist.

He has also given us and sent to us the Holy Spirit, to be our Guide and Advocate, to strengthen our faith and keep the commandments which He has given us inside our hearts. He is always with us and He is always guiding us in His own subtle ways, helping us through one another and through His Church to find our way to Him and be saved. He is always active and is always at work, for the salvation of our souls, even if we have not yet noticed it.

And His promise that He will come again a second time? Yes, it is true, and He will indeed come again as He had promised. But that time will be different from His first coming. The events from the Book of the Revelations of St. John would show us that when Jesus our Lord comes again, at the very end of time, and at a time of His choosing, He will come no longer as a simple Man born in a stable amongst animals and shepherds, but instead as a victorious and conquering King.

And therefore, what does this mean to us, brothers and sisters in Christ? Let us ask ourselves then, if the Lord were to suddenly appear and come into this world again tomorrow, or even on this very day, are we ready and worthy to receive Him? Are we prepared to welcome the Lord when He comes at the time He had designated? Or are we too caught up in enjoying the world such that we forgot about Him?

Dear brothers and sisters in Christ, as we rejoice and celebrate together the Solemnity of the Ascension, let us therefore keep in mind that we should be upright in our deeds and actions, and be filled with righteousness and justice. We must be prepared for the Lord Who will come again at anytime He desires, so that when He comes, He will not find us wicked and unworthy, and resulting therefore in us losing the promise of eternal life, and instead receive damnation.

Let us all remind one another, that the Lord is always with us, and He ascended into heaven in order to prepare the way for us, by preparing the place for us in the world to come. Let us hope in His promise, for He is forever faithful. Let us never be disheartened or discouraged by the challenges and difficulties that come about in our respective lives, for God Who is ever faithful will bless us always. Amen.

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Wednesday, 4 May 2016 : Sixth Week of Easter (Homily and Scripture Reflections)

Liturgical Colour : White

Dear brothers and sisters in Christ, on this day we are presented with the very interesting account of how St. Paul spoke to the Athenians about their religious beliefs at the common forum known as the Areopagus, where all peoples were free to utter their thoughts and share them with everyone. St. Paul preached about the Saviour of the world in that occasion, revealing to them the truth about what they ought to believe in.

The Athenians, as were the Greeks at the time, including many others such as the Romans and other peoples embracing pagan beliefs, they all believed in the multitude and variety of divine beings whom they referred to as gods. They associated natural phenomena and other strange and unexplainable observations as divine interventions and as signs of the presence of the divines themselves.

Therefore, that was why if we looked at the pagan gods, the pantheons of the Greek pagans and other forms of paganisms in the other cultures, we can see how those gods were associated with those natural phenomena, which those people were incapable of fully explaining or understanding. They personified the power of lightning and the skies in Zeus, the king of the Greek gods, and with similar thunder gods in the other pantheons. There were myriads, countless other examples as well.

But ultimately, all of these were mankind’s futile attempts in trying to comprehend the wonders of creation, the greatness of the cosmos and the amazing things that surround them and are present from time to time, which intrigued their attention and interest. They feared and revered those things they did not understand, and in the process they became entangled in the worship of the false gods and idols.

It was all of these things which St. Paul wanted to make clear by his preaching to them of the word of God and of the truth which God had revealed to the world through him. He asked the Athenians about the monument which they had established for the unknown God, as a penchant and clear indication of the folly that they had followed thus far.

They did not know the true God, the Creator of all, and yet what they were following and worshipping, was merely the creations of the Creator. They worshipped the sun, the moon, the stars, the wind, thunder, lightning and the seas, and all these because they were awed by their greatness and majesty, but they failed to see that all these simply bring even greater glory and majesty to the one who created all of them.

The words of St. Paul revealed to all of them the truth about God, the Lord and Creator of all. The Lord Himself in the Gospel today reminded His disciples of the promise which He frequently made, especially at the end of His earthly ministry, of the coming of the Spirit of truth which would reveal to them all of the truth which He had spoken but they were then yet incapable of fully understanding the meaning.

And that Spirit of truth is none other than the Holy Spirit, the Spirit that God has sent to all those whom He had chosen and deemed to be worthy of His presence. And through that same Spirit, the Spirit inflamed the hearts of the Apostles and the disciples of Christ, giving them the strength and the courage to carry out the mission which our Lord had entrusted them, bringing the truth of God to many peoples of various nations.

If they had not been so courageous in proclaiming the faith, they would not have brought many people who would not have been saved otherwise. Because of what St. Paul had spoken at the Areopagus, some of the people there believed in them, even though many people there refused to believe and even ridiculed St. Paul and his teachings. The people who believed there would become the foundations of the Church in that area and brought the salvation to more people.

In this time and era, there are still many people who are in need of the truth, for many people have lived in darkness and in ignorance for long enough. If we do not play our part to bring the word of God to them, by our words and actions, then we may be dooming many souls to eternal damnation, and if God sees our lack of action that had made these fallen into the darkness, what do you think will He do to us? We will be held liable for not helping these brethren of ours when we could have helped them.

Let us all thus commit ourselves anew to the Lord and His cause. Let us all do all things that we can in order to show God’s truth to our fellow brethren. Let us commit ourselves to bring the salvation of God to ever more and more people. May His Holy Spirit strengthen us and be our inspiration always. Amen.

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Tuesday, 3 May 2016 : Feast of St. Philip and St. James, Apostles (Homily and Scripture Reflections)

Liturgical Colour : Red

Dear brothers and sisters in Christ, today is indeed a great day, the day when we celebrate the feast of not just one, but two of Christ’s Twelve Apostles, His principal and the greatest of His disciples. We celebrate on this day the feast of the Apostles St. Philip and St. James. Both of them worked hard for the sake of the people of God, and as the other Apostles had done, they spread the Good News to many during their missions.

St. Philip was also known as Nathanael, a learnt and wise man of Israel, who was told to be fluent in Greek, and thus eventually he went on to preach the Lord and His truth in the regions of Greece and Roman Asia at the time, going from cities to cities, preaching to the masses and gaining for the Church many new converts and members. He went about the Greek communities and gaining many new faithful from among them.

In the end, in one account, St. Philip even managed to convert the wife of the proconsul of a region where he ministered in through his miracles and preaching. The proconsul was enraged and ordered St. Philip to be arrested, and he together with the other Apostle, St. Bartholomew, and other disciples were crucified upside down by the order of the proconsul. And it was told how St. Philip preached to the crowd gathering there from the cross, such that they wanted to release him, but this was not allowed by St. Philip himself.

Meanwhile, St. James the Greater was the brother of St. John the Apostle, once a fisherman along the Lake of Galilee, whom Jesus called together with His other Apostles, St. Peter, St. Andrew and St. John his brother. St. James the Greater played an important role during the early Church, spreading the Good News of God’s salvation after Christ’s resurrection and ascension into heaven.

It was told that St. James went to preach the Good News to the faraway regions such as the province of Iberia in what is today Spain, spreading the Gospel to the people there and helped to establish the Church in faraway regions from its origins in Jerusalem and the Holy Land. And he was therefore today renowned especially in the region known as Santiago de Compostela, where his body lay buried, because it was there where he apparently did his works of evangelisation.

And it was told that, as written in the Acts of the Apostles, how king Herod arrested St. James when he returned to the Holy Land, and in order to please the Jewish authorities, the Pharisees and the chief priests, he executed him. Thus, St. James was among the first of the Apostles to meet his end in martyrdom, but certainly, his works and legacies could still be felt even many years after his death.

Through his tireless works and commitment to the cause of the salvation of mankind, St. James and St. Philip the two Apostles of our Lord, they might have gone ahead of us to the glory of heaven. However, the impact of their actions can still be felt clearly even today. In this regard, we indeed need more and more people who are willing to commit themselves to the Lord and walk in His path as these two Apostles had one.

Truly, it will not be an easy one for us, as there would opposition against all those who are faithful and kept their faith. But Jesus reminded us yet again in the Gospel today, that we who have believed in Him, has seen the Lord Himself through Jesus, and by our faith in Him, we have been justified. And because we know the Lord, we will also do what He has asked us to do, and through these therefore, we would be blessed and saved.

During this season of Easter, which is coming to an end soon, let us therefore reflect on our own lives, and on how we have acted in our life so far. Have we been committed to our Lord, and have we been faithful to Him, through all of our words and actions? Can we call ourselves true Christians, as those who do not just believe in the Lord through mere words, but also through real action?

The examples of the Apostles St. Philip and St. James show us that there are still many things that we can do as the followers of Christ in order to fulfil the commands which our Lord had placed in the shoulders of the Apostles. Both the Apostles took the charge with zeal and vigour, and despite the challenges and the difficulties that faced them, all these did not prevent them from carrying out the missions which the Lord entrusted to them.

Let us all therefore look forward, and as we are about to celebrate the Solemnity of the Pentecost Sunday soon, let us all recommit ourselves, and rediscover the gifts of the Holy Spirit which had been given to us, and make use of them all in order to help those who are still in darkness, by showing them the love of God manifested through each and every one of us the faithful ones of our Lord, that more and more souls may see the light of God and be saved. God bless us all. Amen.

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Monday, 2 May 2016 : Sixth 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, on this day we heard the words of the Sacred Scriptures telling us about the works and journeys of St. Paul the Apostle during his time when he journeyed through the Eastern Mediterranean regions, visiting cities after cities, towns after towns, and encouraging the faith of the Christian communities which he was visiting.

There were people who welcomed him and helped him just as the faithful had in some of the cities that St. Paul visited, but in even more occasions, there were also many of those who refused to listen to his words, rejected him, cast stone at him and ejected him out of their cities and towns. This is just as what Jesus our Lord Himself had foretold to His disciples, that they would be accepted, but also would be rejected as well.

And in the Gospel today, Jesus encouraged His disciples that He would not abandon them to face the challenges of the world alone on their own. He would send them the Helper, His own Holy Spirit, Whom He would send to those whom He had deemed to be worthy, His servants and people who went about preaching His truth and His Good News to mankind.

As we approach the coming of the feast and solemnity of Pentecost Sunday, which will be in about two weeks’ time, we are going to hear more and more about the promise of God’s Holy Spirit, which He shall pour down and bestow on all those whom He has deemed to be worthy. And the Spirit shall empower them, encouraging their hearts to be steadfast and steady in their faith in God.

The Holy Spirit shall inflame lukewarm hearts and strengthen the faith of those whose faith are shaken. But, in order to fully realise and utilise the graces and blessings of the Holy Spirit, we have to cultivate the seeds of faith, hope and love which it has placed in each and every one of us, that the gifts of the Spirit to us may grow and multiply, and bring all of us ever closer to God and being ever righteous and just, we may be found worthy of Him.

God always helps those who want to help themselves. And to those who have faithfully kept His commandments and walk in His ways, He shall give even greater gifts. And this grace we can find in the person of the saint whose feast we are commemorating today, namely that of St. Athanasius, a great and holy bishop, and an exemplary role model for many of those who followed him in his way of life.

St. Athanasius lived at a time when the persecution against Christians have ended, and the faithful were free to live out their faith as they wished. However, divisions appeared in the society by the vicious works of the devil, who through his persuasion and through the false prophets which he had planted among the faithful, he had lured many people away from salvation, and even threatened to corrupt the pure teachings of the Church and tore it apart.

But this is where St. Athanasius came into the fray and intervened for the love of God’s Church and the faithful, and for the zeal he has for the Lord and the Faith which he has in Him. St. Athanasius, a holy and devoted bishop, was a simple and loving man, but when he was asked to stand up for his faith in the matter of the heretical teachings and aberrations that threatened to bring countless peoples into damnation, he was inflamed and full of zeal, and spoke out harshly against those heretics who twisted and corrupted the Lord’s teachings for their own purposes and desires.

Many times, St. Athanasius encountered trouble for his vigorous opposition against the heretical teachings, particularly the false teachings of Arius, the false prophet and heresiarch, who advocated that the Lord Jesus was not God, but instead was a mere man without any link to power or divinity, as just one among God’s creations. This teaching was false, and misled many, even among the priests and bishops who in dissent followed Arius’ errors and spread his heresy among many more people.

This was where St. Athanasius did not pull back his opposition, and he was renowned for his Athanasian Creed, the creed of faith that expanded upon the original Nicene Creed, and emphasised at every step, the fundamentals of the Christian faith, particularly the divinity and equality which Jesus our Lord has with the Father, three Divine Persons but one God, the Most Holy Trinity.

St. Athanasius clearly did not have it easy. Just as there were many who accepted and welcomed his views, and proceeded on to defend the true faith, there were also many of those who refused to believe in the truth and preferred to walk the path of heresy, including even the powerful and the mighty. As a result, St. Athanasius was even persecuted and exiled from his see for a few years, and had to endure great difficulty and suffering. But he did not give up.

Through his efforts and hard work, he managed to bring many souls back from the darkness of the heresy they espoused, and these repented and returned to the true faith. Had St. Athanasius not be courageous and be devoted in resisting the pull of heresy and the false teachings, more and more people could have encountered damnation and fall into the eternal darkness of hell.

Therefore today, as we reflect on the passages from the Holy Scriptures, let us all also think of what St. Athanasius had done, and realise that each and every one of us can also follow in his footsteps. We do not have to do great things as he had done, but we should begin from even simple steps such as putting into our lives the practice of true faith, and put into real action, all that we have believed in the Lord, and become truly faithful as St. Athanasius had been.

Let us pray to the Lord, that all of us will be blessed in all of our endeavours. Let us draw closer to God and ask Him to bless us in everything we do, so that we may have our works successful and help to bring each and every one of us closer to our Lord, our loving God and Father. God bless us all. Amen.

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Sunday, 1 May 2016 : Sixth Sunday of Easter, Memorial of St. Joseph the Worker (Homily and Scripture Reflections)

Liturgical Colour : White

Dear brothers and sisters in Christ, the essence of the readings from the Holy Scriptures on this day is that we ought to be doing the works that we have been expected to do as the followers and disciples of our Lord Jesus Christ. The essence of today’s readings is one of action, that is good actions that we need to accomplish in our own respective lives, so that we will be worthy of God and His presence in us that bring us to justification and eternal life.

In the first reading, we heard about the dilemma faced by the early Church with regards to the obedience to the Law of God, and more specifically the laws of Moses passed down through the generations, with all of its modifications and additions, which resulted in a very complicated and numerous set of rules and regulations that the Pharisees and the conservatives in the Jewish society in particular, enforced on the people of God.

These rules and regulations covered everything in the Jewish society, all sorts of etiquettes and expectations in all kinds of activities, from how you ought to wash and purify your hands before you have a meal, and the rites involved in the commemoration of the Sabbath day, not withstanding the strict observation of the sabbath and its prohibition of any sorts of activities, as certainly all of us would have seen throughout the Gospels, how the Pharisees strictly enforced it.

But all these rules and regulations, are they helping in bringing the people closer to God? They are a burden and an unnecessary chore for those who wanted to follow the Lord. Indeed, the Jews themselves did not fulfil the entirety of the obligations of the human laws, and were struggling with it themselves, not to think about how difficult it would be for the different kinds of people at that time, Greeks, Syrians and Romans, and many others who became members of the Church.

These would have to abandon their old ways of life and embrace the strict rules of the Jewish traditions, if the Pharisees and the conservatives among the early Christians were to succeed in their endeavours. It would be difficult, as then those new faithful would be ostracised by their own societies and communities for being different, following a foreign culture instead of their own. But, the Apostles through the Holy Spirit reminded the whole assembly that this is not what the Lord wanted from His people.

Instead, He made it clear to them on many occasions, that if they love Him and truly love Him, they would listen to His words and do as what He had asked them to do. And His words and will are that they ought to love Him with all of their hearts, their minds and with all of their abilities and capacities, giving all of their beings and attention to Him above anything else, and then do the same to their fellow brethren.

It is what the Lord Jesus had revealed to all of us mankind, that His Law, the Law of God is truly the Law of Love. And love is that one should give it his or her all to another whom he or she love, unconditionally and with full intention of love. Love is unconditional and selfless, giving of oneself to another, just as what the Lord Jesus Himself perfectly had shown to us, by His death on the cross, the ultimate love, that no better love exist, other than for one to give His life for another.

But is love just a feeling, or something that we should enjoy with one another? No, it is not, brethren. Love without concrete and real action is empty and meaningless. Love without commitment is empty and without real significance, and it is indeed not love. Love must be active and filled with many good deeds, showing our care and concern for our fellow men and women, and showing our piety and dedication to our Lord.

This therefore ties in perfectly with today’s great celebration, which coincides with the sixth Sunday in the season of Easter. On the first day of May, in the secular world we heard about the term May Day or Labour Day, the day which commemorates all the workers of the world, all those who toil and labour for the sustenance of themselves and their families, and hoping for a better life.

But in the Church, we celebrate it with even more meaning than just worldly work and labours. Today we mark the feast of St. Joseph the Worker. St. Joseph is the foster father of our Lord Jesus, and he was a carpenter in Nazareth, both before and after the birth of our Lord Jesus Christ. He was an upright man, who upheld integrity and justice in his profession, and worked with zeal and faith, a model worker for all.

He showed us all that a good worker is not just someone who is looking to gather and gain more money or possession for themselves. Otherwise, he himself would not have been satisfied with the job of a carpenter. A carpenter’s job was an honest and humble job, but at the same time, it was tiresome and does not produce much money, and at that time, the society tended to look down on these kind of menial works.

That was why the people of Nazareth was skeptical and indeed refused to believe that Jesus was the Messiah, because they thought they knew Him as the Son of a mere carpenter. They looked down on Him and sneered at Him, thinking that He was a nobody Who dared and tried to make Himself famous by breaking through the social prejudice. That is how mankind is, and that is how we ourselves live in our world today. We tend to categorise people and become prejudice against others based on who they are, what they are working as, or in how they act.

But again, God made it clear to all of us, that we should strive for love, and all of us should be honest and upright in all things. A good worker is someone who knows love, and a person who knows how to love is someone who can show their love for another through real and concrete actions and not just through mere words or proclamations.

Thus, all of us are called to love, to obey the Lord’s commandments, that is love. We should not be like the Pharisees who were overly attached to their human laws, rules and regulations that stifled the faithful who wanted to follow the Lord, but was discouraged by the kind of commitment they need to make by obeying those draconian rules.

Yet, we must also be aware that love is not something that is easy to do or to be attained. True love require effort, commitment and sacrifice. Jesus Himself had shown the example for us, that out of His love for us, He was willing to spend His time with us, teaching us and helping us to find the way to God through Him, and He even bore the multitudes of our sins, all the punishments intended for those sins, and bore it upon Himself, carrying that cross to Calvary.

We should walk in our Lord’s footsteps, and in the footsteps of his foster-father, St. Joseph the Worker, St. Joseph the Carpenter. We should be upright and uphold integrity and justice in all of our actions and in all of our dealings with one another. And most importantly of all, as I have emphasised again and again from just now, that we must all have love for each other, and show them through genuine acts of love, and show the same love for our Lord as well.

And all of us who have done all these faithfully, well, we know our heavenly reward is awaiting us at the end of the day. Just as all the workers are rewarded for their hard work and deeds, we too shall be rewarded, so long as we remain faithful to the Lord our God. In the second reading from the Book of Revelations of St. John the Apostle, at the end of that book, we hear about the heavenly city of Jerusalem, the City of God descending from heaven, in which all the faithful shall live forever with God.

And thus, if we are faithful, and if we show love for God and for each other, God shall find us worthy and just, and He shall welcome us into His City, and He shall wipe away all of our tears and sorrows, and place true joy inside each and every one of us. Let us all endeavour and work hard for this purpose, brethren, that all of us will draw ever closer to Him.

Let us all ask for the intercession of His foster-father, St. Joseph the Worker, that he will always intercede for our sake, and pray that all of us may persevere in our good works, for the sake of our salvation. May God bless us all always and keep us in His grace forevermore. Amen.

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Saturday, 30 April 2016 : Fifth Week of Easter, Memorial of Pope St. Pius V, Pope (Homily and Scripture Reflections)

Liturgical Colour : White

Dear brothers and sisters in Christ, on this day we heard first about the works of St. Paul who went about many cities and towns across regions of the Eastern Mediterranean. He went preaching the word of God and the Good News, telling many people of the need to repent from their old, sinful ways and to follow the Lord our God from then on. And he encouraged the faith of the many communities of the faithful whom he visited along the way.

If we read more of the entirety of the Acts of the Apostles and the Epistles as a whole, we would realise just how difficult his works were, and how dangerous they were. Indeed, many of the faithful welcomed him along his journeys and they listened to him. But in many of those places, he also encountered those who opposed his works, those who opposed the faith and the Church, and refused to believe in God.

The Jews, especially the hardliners among the priestly clans and the Pharisees refused to believe in Jesus and made life difficult for St. Paul and the Apostles. In a few occasion they even harassed them and incited the whole city to go against them. Their works were disturbed and they were even stoned and assaulted. But with the grace of God, they were able to persevere amidst the persecution.

And some of the Greeks and the pagans who refused to believe in God also made their case against St. Paul and the Apostles, thinking of his teachings and the faith in the Lord Jesus Christ as threats to their traditional way of life, their culture and as insult and affront to their traditional gods. And thus, many people and groups ganged up against St. Paul, the Apostles and the faithful.

This is a fulfilment of what Jesus Himself had told His disciples at the Last Supper, about how the world would hate them for what they had done for the sake of the Lord, and because they belong to the Lord and no longer belonging to the world. They would suffer rejection, challenges and persecution because of their dedication to the Holy Name of God, and for the salvation of God’s people.

But God reassured them at the same time, for He told them that it was indeed a great privilege to be able to suffer for the sake and for the cause of the Name of the Lord. And they suffered because they refused to bend to accommodate the demands of this world, and they therefore gained glory and righteousness through what they have done in good faith in the Lord Jesus.

This is especially important for all of us today, as we have to realise and we have to constantly remember that the works of the Church and thus the same works of the Apostles have not been completed, but instead, it is still in progress, and we are the ones who have been entrusted with the same works as what the Apostles had been entrusted with.

Now we have to ask ourselves, are we up to the challenge? Are we able to give of ourselves just as the Apostles have given themselves for the sake of evangelisation and preaching the Good News to those who have yet to hear of it, or to sinners awaiting for the redemption and salvation in God? We have to make a conscious choice and effort to put ourselves at the forefront of the works of the Church, to bring more and more souls to salvation in our God.

Now, let us today remember the example of this pious saint whose feast day is celebrated today, Pope St. Pius V, Bishop of Rome, Vicar of Christ, and the leader of the entire Universal Church approximately five centuries ago. Pope St. Pius V lived through a time of great difficulty for the Church, and he led the Church through those very turbulent and trying times, where people were also martyred for their faith, and many false prophets were lying around seeking prey from among the people of God.

At that time, the Church and the faithful people of God were under siege and under constant threat from the inside and from the outside. The pagan and godless Ottoman Turks were rising and became mighty, seizing territories after territories, enslaving more and more people under their iron rule, and the whole Christendom was under great fear of this great rising power.

And besides that external threat, from the inside, the Church was assailed by the heretics and the people who called themselves as Protestants, following false teachings and the heretical thoughts of men planted by the devil himself to destroy the Church and its unity. Many souls were lost to heresy, and many people fell along the way, as they were tempted by the temptations of those heretical teachings and left the truth of God behind.

During that very trying and turbulent times, Pope St. Pius V led and steered the Church with great patience and effort, keeping control of the faithful and ensuring that works were done to prevent more and more souls from being lost to the damnation of hell. And thus, he helped conclude the very important Council of Trent, a gathering of the leaders of the Church designed to rejuvenate and purify the faith, so that the Church would be far better able to resist the attacks of the heretics.

Through his efforts, many of the lost souls and heretics repented their sins, and by the hard works of the various missionaries sent to reclaim these lost souls, many were restored to the grace and salvation in God. And Pope St. Pius V was also instrumental in his role in encouraging and organising a great defence of Christendom, culminating in a total and crushing victory of the forces of Christ against the heathen Ottomans at the battle of Lepanto.

Inspired by Pope St. Pius V and his tireless dedication to the faithful, his hard works amidst the difficulties and challenges, just as St. Paul and the Apostles had encountered, for the sake of the salvation of as many souls as possible, therefore all of us should also follow in their footsteps and help to bring one another, all the lost sheep in this world to return together to our Shepherd, our Lord Jesus Christ.

Let us all vow and renew our efforts to become each and every one of us, as good and ever better Christians, not just by mere words, but also through real and concrete action. Let us all commit ourselves to the Lord through His Church and bring all the peoples to salvation and grace in the Lord. God bless us all. Amen.

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Friday, 29 April 2016 : Fifth Week of Easter, Memorial of St. Catherine of Siena, Virgin and Doctor of the Church (Homily and Scripture Reflections)

Liturgical Colour : White

Dear brothers and sisters in Christ, continuing from our discourse yesterday, and continuing with the readings from the Holy Scriptures from yesterday, we heard again about how the Apostles were reassuring those disciples of our Lord who were not of Jewish origin, but instead, belonging to the Greeks, or the Romans and the other peoples collectively known as the Gentiles.

Even though at the earliest days of the Church, most of the faithful were Jews, but very quickly many non-Jews also came to believe in the Lord. They came to join the Church in droves in the many cities, particularly in the places where the Church was to be born and which were to be the foundations of the Universal Church in the years to come. Gentiles eventually rapidly outnumbered the Jews in the number of the faithful and the members of the Church.

Thus, as we have discussed and mentioned it yesterday, the ones among the faithful who wanted to enforce strict discipline in accordance with the laws of Moses and the laws in accordance to the Jewish tradition, namely the Pharisees who became the disciples of our Lord, their idea and argument was rejected as this unnecessarily brought burdens to those who want to believe in God.

Instead, the Apostles made it clear that many of those laws were redundant and unnecessary, and it was such as a result of many hundreds and thousands of years of modification and additions to the original Law passed down to them from Moses, and which Moses himself received from God. The extent of such modification and addition was such that the original meaning, intent and purpose of the Law was lost.

That was why Jesus came into the world, besides to save us, He also revealed the truth once again of His love, and how He has given the Law to help guide mankind to Him, to know of His love, and to love Him unconditionally, and do the same to their fellow brethren, without being buried underneath layers after layers of protocols and difficult commitments.

And thus, it comes now to our responsibility and the task waiting ahead of us, as the Lord has laid it Himself for us. The works of the Apostles are not done, and these have been continuing since the days when the Apostles still walked about and roamed around the earth. But the works of evangelisation, the conversion of sinners, and calling people to the presence of God still continue even to this day, and on the days to come, and the task is placed squarely on our shoulders.

There are still many people who await God’s salvation, and there are still many more souls who are waiting for God’s love and mercy, as well as His forgiveness and blessings. There are many who through our works and commitments to helping them, can find their way out of the darkness of the world and into the light of our God, but all these will require us to stand up and be courageous to take up our crosses, the commitments we have as members of God’s Church.

Today we celebrate the feast day of a great woman and a great saint, St. Catherine of Siena, well renowned since her days and even unto today, for her great zeal and piety, and for her many works in bringing mankind and many souls to salvation in God. St. Catherine of Siena was a member of the Dominican religious order, and she together with St. Francis of Assisi are the patron saints of Italy.

She encountered many visions of our Lord Jesus Christ, which propelled her to commit herself to even more good works among the people of God, through prayers and charity, giving away alms and charity to the poor, the sick and the dying, sometimes even causing annoyance to her own family. But St. Catherine of Siena never stopped doing what she thought was right in the sight of God, and indeed, she helped many on their way to God.

She travelled through many places and helped to inspire many people to follow her example, helping others on their way to Christ, and helped to rejuvenate the faith among the people who have fallen along the way and became lost in the darkness of the world. And ultimately, in her most well-known work, she even managed to push and persuade the Pope himself, who was then in a self-exile in the city of Avignon, away from Rome, to return to the city and the place where he should have been, Rome itself.

The many works of St. Catherine of Siena, and her tireless commitments to the people of God, in bringing about salvation of God to them should become our inspiration, and we should walk in her footsteps. Today therefore, let us pray and let us commit ourselves anew to God, and let us all be ever better disciples of our Lord, finding ways to devote ourselves in love to our brethren around us, and of course to the Lord as well, giving all of our heart’s attention to Him. God bless us all in our endeavours and may He always be with us. Amen.

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Thursday, 28 April 2016 : Fifth Week of Easter, Memorial of St. Peter Chanel, Priest and Martyr, and St. Louis Marie Grignion de Montfort, Priest (Homily and Scripture Reflections)

Liturgical Colour : White or Red (Martyrs)

Dear brothers and sisters in Christ, on this day we heard first about the contention present in the body of the faithful, the assembly of the Church of God in Jerusalem, which were divided in their opinions and decisions with regards to the admission of the non-Jews or also known as the Gentiles into the Church. They disagreed with what kind of laws that the Gentiles had to obey as a member of the Church.

There were those who were among the Pharisees who believed in Jesus, those who put particular attention to the strict and unbending interpretation of the Law of God, and to be more precise, the laws of Moses, as passed down through the many generations, and modified through those same many generations. And these Pharisee Christians refused to let the Gentiles to be believers unless they obeyed the entirety of the laws of Moses.

According to one account, there were over six hundred and thirteen laws present in the entirety of the Jewish law as passed down through the generations from the time of Moses, and many of these involved numerous customs pertinent and unique to the Jews, but might not be applicable or suitable for others who were not counted or belonging to the Jewish race.

And to demand those non-Jewish people who wanted to believe in Jesus, and indeed they had believed in Jesus with all their hearts, would mean difficulties and challenges for them, as for these Greeks, Romans and others who lived in the cosmopolitan and diverse Roman Empire, to follow entirely the ways of the Jews as it was at the time of Jesus would likely mean estrangement and trouble between these faithful ones and their respective communities.

In the end, it may indeed become a serious obstacle and hindrance for the works of evangelisation, as it would have kept many people who believed in the Lord, from making a commitment to the faith, as some of them might not be sure of the sacrifices they needed to make by becoming a disciple of Jesus. And in the end, such efforts would be counter-productive, turning people away from salvation rather than welcoming them into it.

Thus, an important lesson for all of us is that, while at times we may be fussy about certain things, but in the matter of the works of salvation, we should not make it difficult for people to believe in the Lord. But on the contrary, at the same time, the Apostles also made it clear that, the Gentiles who wanted to believe in Jesus and became members of the Church must believe in the basic tenets and obey the basic laws of the Church.

So this does not mean that any important teachings of the faith should be compromised, but instead, all those who profess the faith in God must all obey the Law and commandments of love as taught by the Lord to us through His Apostles and His Church. They must not engage in wicked and vile acts contrary to the Lord’s will and ways, and they must devote themselves to the way of righteousness.

Brothers and sisters in Christ, in this matter, we can imitate the examples of the two great and holy men, holy saints whose feast we are celebrating today. St. Peter Chanel and St. Louis Marie Grignion de Montfort were both renowned for their holy lives and exemplary attitudes, which all of us should follow as well. St. Peter Chanel was a missionary to the far regions of Oceania, who was martyred in the midst of his works, while St. Louis Marie de Montfort was the famous founder of the religious order of the Montfortians.

St. Peter Chanel was a person who lived his life with great zeal, and ever since a young age, he has desired to be the servant of the Lord’s will, carrying out His truth and words to those who have not yet heard of it. He was renowned for his hard work in caring for the sick and the less fortunate in his community and parish. He joined the Society of Mary at a young age, and went forth as a missionary, being sent to the southern Pacific islands, specifically to the island of Futuna.

He preached to the natives there about the Lord Jesus and worked hard to turn their hearts to God. Despite the challenges with language barrier and opposition from the natives, especially from the elites, St. Peter Chanel was able to convert a sizeable number of people and brought them as the foundation of the Church. When St. Peter Chanel managed to convert even the crown prince of the kingdom, the king feared that he would lose his influence, and thus sent one of his warriors to kill St. Peter Chanel.

And in the end, although St. Peter Chanel was martyred in the midst of his holy works, but the king himself who ordered the death of this holy saint repented his deeds and became a Christian himself. And his many works allowed many souls who would have otherwise been lost to be saved. Meanwhile, St. Louis Marie de Montfort also did a great work, particularly renowned in his devotion to the Blessed Virgin Mary, furthering the devotion to Mary and in the fields of Mariology.

St. Louis Marie de Montfort joined the priesthood and served among the people, serving those who were poor and less fortunate, and he also became a famous preacher, renowned for his passionate speeches and sermons. He wanted to go forth to preach in mission areas, but he was advised against it. Instead, he eventually established the community and society of religious life known now as the Montfortians, also known as the Company of Mary.

St. Louis Marie de Montfort never stopped doing good works for the sake of the people of God. Through prayers, good and inspiring words of truth, and through loving care of the body and soul, he and his followers helped to bring many people to the Lord, and helped sinners to return to the Lord and to repent from all of their sins. Thus, we can see here clearly, how the two saints we celebrate today, have such great examples we can follow.

Let us all devote ourselves to the Lord, brothers and sisters in Christ, and do our best to help one another to reach out to the Lord. Definitely we must not close the doors of salvation to those who seek it, and instead, welcome them and bring them closer to God. However, let us also remember that we should not compromise on the matter of faith, and make sure that each and every one of us in the Church obey God’s commandments of love. God bless us all. Amen.

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Wednesday, 27 April 2016 : Fifth Week of Easter (Homily and Scripture Reflections)

Liturgical Colour : White

Dear brothers and sisters in Christ, on this day we heard about the parable of the vine and its branches, and of the vineyard and its grower from our Lord Jesus, as recorded in the Gospel of St. John. In this parable, Jesus was speaking about Himself and God His Father, and how if mankind were to have true life in them, then they must be attached to Him, and continue to be attached to Him.

The Vinegrower of the field is God the Father Who created all things and all life. And through His Word He has created all things at the beginning of time. The Word was through which God created all and gave life to all. And that Word has been incarnate to be one of men, as the Vine referred to in the Gospel today by Jesus. Jesus Himself is the Vine, through which all of its branches has life and are able to grow.

Those who keep themselves solidly attached to the Vine that is our Lord, will receive true life and grace. They will remain in God’s love and grace, and His blessings will be with them always. But those who severed themselves from the Vine, would therefore be excluded from the grace of God, and they shall be cast out into the utter darkness and damnation, unless they repent and change their ways.

The branches refer to all of us, brothers and sisters in Christ, for all of us who have believed in the truth of Jesus our Lord, and all of us who have received baptism as the Sacrament of sanctification and as the seal of faith, shall be joined to the Lord as the members of His one Body, the Church. Jesus Himself mentioned in another occasion, how the Church is one united Body, with all of its members comprising all of us who believe in the Lord.

And as members of that Church, the one Body of Christ, we should realise that all of us have been brought together by God, just as in the days of Noah, when God sent the great flood to wipe out all those men and creatures who were wicked and evil, all those who refused to listen to God and who refused to walk in His ways. Only those who were brought and gathered in Noah’s Ark, namely only Noah and his immediate family were saved.

Therefore, in the same manner, only those who God have gathered in His Church will be saved and receive the guarantee of safety and eternal life from God. Those who consciously chose to remain outside the Church of God, is like lost sheep lying outside the flock. And when the Shepherd comes, all those who are inside the flock will be saved, and those who are outside shall be left behind.

Therefore, if we are not part of the Church, and all those who are outside the bounds of the Church, then all of us will have no part in the salvation which God is promising to those who are faithful to Him. Only by being connected, and staying connected to God, the One and True Vine, that we will have life in us, and only through Him that we will receive salvation and eternal life.

Therefore, if we have been separated from the love and grace of God by our sins, then we should realise that it is up to us, whether we want to continue our current path and walk further and further away from God, or whether we want to turn around now, and turn away from all of our sinful ways. It is our choice, whether we want to be separated from God or to be reunited with Him. What matters now is do we want to be loved by God?

Let us all remind one another, that we may find the way to be reconciled with God our loving Creator and Father. Let us all seek to be ever closer to God and to walk forever always in His ways, and never again be separated from Him. May our sins be cleansed and our flesh and souls be purified from all the darkness that have enveloped us all. God bless us all. Amen.

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Tuesday, 26 April 2016 : Fifth Week of Easter (Homily and Scripture Reflections)

Liturgical Colour : White

Dear brothers and sisters in Christ, on this day we are reminded yet again that the work of the Apostles were hard and perilous work, where they endured suffering, persecution and rejection, one after another during their time when they evangelised and spread the Good News of the Gospel to the people of God. But their rewards were great, and none less than the kingdom of God which is given to them to enjoy forever in the glory of heaven.

They travelled from places to places, from cities to cities, from towns to towns, villages to villages, preaching the salvation of God to all the people, and God blessed them from time to time, leading them and guiding them to bring forth His light to even more people, especially to those who did not have the chance to witness His graces and works, and those who have not yet heard His words.

In the Gospel today, as Jesus spoke to His disciples during His Last Supper with them, He reaffirmed them and encouraged them to be courageous and strong in their faith, and to give it their all in helping to realise the good works of God. He reassured them that they belonged to Him, and the prince of this world had no power or authority over them, no matter how hard he would try.

That prince of the world was Satan, the devil and the great enemy of us all. And to all those who believe in God, indeed he is the great adversary, who is trying actively at all times to bring us to our downfall and to our destruction through various means, be it by coercion or temptation, or through persecution or pressure to force the people of God to walk the path to ruin.

But we should not fear him, brethren, as neither did the Apostles and the disciples of our Lord fear him. God had promised them that they would not be lost to the darkness, and He would never abandon them so long as they remained faithful to Him and walked in His ways. And thus, even though the Jews rejected them, the Jewish authorities chased after them, and later on they encountered opposition from the Roman authorities, but they did not stop their evangelising efforts.

And all of these should inspire us all, the disciples and followers of our Lord Jesus Christ living today in this world. We should also walk in their footsteps, and continue their good works, which they have started and initiated. We are the members of the Church in this time and age, and the responsibility and obligation fall therefore upon us to do the good works of our Lord as He had commanded us.

Let us all commit ourselves anew to the cause of our Lord, devoting our time, our commitment and efforts to spread His Good News to all of the world, sending the light of Christ to all those who are still living in the darkness and ignorance of the Lord. If the world hates us for doing that, then we should know that the world is in opposition to God, and as we hold on to the side of the Lord, then we should all be aware of what good things we shall receive from God.

Brothers and sisters in Christ, let us venture forth to bring and share God’s blessings with one another. We are called to be Christians to be active and to put forth through our works, the light that will illuminate the path for many that they may find their way to God, and therefore attain eternal life and salvation. Let us all be part of this great endeavour, and let us not lose heart, even if the world itself conspires against us, for God is and will always be with us. Amen.