Easter Homily

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Wednesday, 20 April 2016 : Fourth Week of Easter (Homily and Scripture Reflections)

Liturgical Colour : White

Dear brothers and sisters in Christ, on this day, all of us have been shown the truth about the Lord, Who through Jesus Christ His Son, has come into the world as the great Light, which is the guidance and the pathway for many who are now, and many others who once wandered throughout the great darkness of this world. Through Him, all those who have believed in God have received the guarantee and the promise of salvation and eternal life.

Those who accepted the words of our Lord have received life in them, because the Word Himself, the Word of God, Divine Incarnate had entered into the world through Jesus, the Son of God, Who have then given up Himself for our sake on the cross, laying down His life for us, and giving to us His own flesh and blood, His Body and His Precious Blood as our life-giving eternal sustenance.

The Apostles worked hard around the clock, going from places to places, and sometimes even to faraway and dangerous places, so that they might bear this truth and the assurance of salvation in Jesus Christ to all those who lived far and have not yet heard about the salvation which God offered to all those who would put their complete trust in Christ, Who died for all that they might live.

In the first reading today taken from the Acts of the Apostles, we heard how God had chosen His servants and sent them to evangelise to the peoples and communities of the people of God, so that they might hear the words of the Lord and come to believe in Him. And thus all those who believe in God would receive the redemption promised to them, and they would be made worthy of eternal grace and life.

The Church leaders supported one another, and they laid their hands on those whom God had chosen. This act represents the passing down of the Holy Spirit and the gifts which God had given them through the same Spirit. God blessed them with the authority over the spirits of this earth and beyond, and authority to forgive sins and to absolve the souls of men from their faults.

Brothers and sisters in Christ, it is now therefore we are all called to pay attention to what all of us are expected to do as members of the Church. The laying of the hands on the heads of the Apostles and the saints represent the continuous chain and the continuity from the Apostles themselves to our very own priests today, who all receive their ordination and authority from the bishops, who then received the same authority passed down to them from the Apostles, and then from our Lord Jesus Himself.

And of course all of us who are part of the Church also needs to play our part to commit ourselves to help the Church to spread and continue its good works to many others who are in need of salvation and liberation from their troubles. We also that same obligation to do what Jesus our Lord had commanded His disciples to do, that is to bear His word of truth, and spread them to the very ends of the earth, and preach the salvation in Him to all mankind.

Let us all therefore use this time and opportunity for us to reflect on our own lives and our actions. Let us all renew our commitment to help one another, especially those who lay in danger of falling into the darkness and eternal damnation of being separated from the love of God because of their actions that come to be contrary to the ways of the Lord.

May God help us in our endeavours, and may He strengthen our faith together as one people, belonging to the one and only Church through which He will save us from the eternal darkness and sufferings in hell. God bless us all and keep us in His grace forevermore. Amen.

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Tuesday, 19 April 2016 : Fourth Week of Easter, Eleventh Anniversary of the Pontificate of Pope Benedict XVI, Vicar of Christ and Supreme Pontiff (Homily and Scripture Reflections)

Liturgical Colour : White

Dear brothers and sisters in Christ, on this day we commemorate together the anniversary of the election of our Pope and Supreme Pontiff, Pope Benedict XVI, the Bishop of Rome and Successor of St. Peter the Apostle, the chief and Prince of all the Apostles and the Vicar of Christ. We rejoice in the eleven years that have passed since Pope Benedict XVI was elected to be the leader of the entire Universal Church and as God’s vice-gerent on earth.

Therefore, as we celebrate together this great occasion, today we are called to remember the words from the Sacred Scriptures which mentioned to us about the works of the Holy Apostles in the first reading today from the Acts of the Apostles. It was mentioned all the great and wonderful works that the Apostles Paul and Barnabas had done in evangelising and spreading the Good News to all mankind.

The works of the Apostles were of great importance in establishing the foundations of the Church. And thus we were told how the Church was established during the first days and months of the early Church, and the number of followers grew rapidly during this time as more and more people received and accepted the Lord’s call to repentance and forgiveness.

And in the Gospel today we heard how Jesus mentioned about Himself as the Shepherd of all, and how we are all belonging to His flock, as sheep and all entrusted to Him. And there, we saw how Jesus contrasted those who accepted His message and believed in Him, as those whom He calls as His sheep, and those who refused to believe in Him and rejected His message. These are those who consciously refused to stay in the flock and went off on their own.

The flock of the Lord, all those whom the Lord had gathered, all these have received the word of God, and the revelations of truth from the Lord Himself. And how did they get the message of the Lord’s truth? It was none other than by the hard work and the labours of the Apostles, the saints and the martyrs, all the holy servants of God who had given all their lives for the sake of the salvation of the many souls lost in this world.

By their dedication and hard work, they had delivered the truth of God, and brought the salvation of God to the many souls who would have been lost and faced condemnation if they had not laboured hard for their sake. And that was the reason why the Church we have today is a thriving one, where more and more people are coming to believe in the Lord, and the works of the Apostles are continued through our Pope, the bishops and the priests who are working together to bring the Church of God to the fulfilment of its missions.

But we must all beware lest we are caught unprepared against the wicked things and the oppositions lined up against the Church. As it was in the days of the Apostles, the holy saints and martyrs of the early Church, there are oppositions against the good works of the Lord, both from the outside and even from the inside of the Church itself. These are the works of those who refuse to acknowledge the graces of God, and those who even rejected the Lord’s rich offer of mercy and salvation.

But now, it is our time to realise that there are so much we can do in order to help the works of the Church. For the Church is not just made up of its leaders and all the dedicated servants of the Lord who have given their lives in the service of God. Instead, all of us are also full members of the Church, and united as we are in this holy Body of the Lord, we should take part in bringing the Church’s works and evangelisation efforts, and continue the good works of the Apostles.

Being Christians should not mean that we are just believers in our Lord Jesus Christ by mere name only. Instead, we should give our very best and commit ourselves to actions that show how truly faithful we are, that our faith is not by merely words alone, but also through real actions and concrete plans that bear rich fruits.

Let us all help each other, and commit ourselves to serve the Lord ever more through our daily life actions, and may we draw ever closer to the Lord and attain His salvation and the life He promised to all those who are faithful to Him. God bless us all. Amen.

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Monday, 18 April 2016 : Fourth Week of Easter (Homily and Scripture Reflections)

Liturgical Colour : White

Dear brothers and sisters in Christ, on this day we continue the discourse on the Lord as our Good Shepherd, our Guide and Leader through the darkness of this world, and He is gathering us all so that each and every one of us may find our way to salvation and find succour and grace in His embrace. This is what He is asking from each one of us, that we walk in His path and follow Him as our Shepherd and Guide.

Brothers and sisters in Christ, all of us call ourselves as Christians, and yet do we know the reason behind all of this? Do we know the reason why we call ourselves as Christians? That is because all of us belong to Christ, and He is part of us. We follow Him, and He leads us, and this is why those who see us, by right they should have known that we belong to Christ our Lord and to no one else.

Remember what Jesus said in the Gospel today? That the sheep know the shepherd, and listen only to the shepherd, and not to the other thieves and false shepherds? That is what we should be, for we are the sheep and the flock of the Lord, belonging to God. That means, our way of life, all of our dealings, words, deeds and actions should reflect the nature of God, that is goodness, love, compassion and care for each other.

And yet, if we reflect on how we live our lives, we should realise just how far from the truth that is. How many of us actually do and act in the way that we believe in? How many of us truly walk in the way of our faith and act in the manner appropriate to our faith? It is important because, while the Lord our God gathered us into His flock, but we are still prone to falling into temptation and into the falsehoods and lies of the devil.

The devil will not just be quiet and leave us be, even as we proceed on with our lives. He will do all that is in his power and ability in order to hamper us and to obstruct our path towards salvation. He will not let us be and allow us to peacefully achieve our goal of salvation. Instead, he will harass us, tempt us and try to pull us away by various means, so that in the end, we will abandon our Lord in the hope of attaining something else more valuable or attractive to us.

What we have to realise is the fact that it is not always something that is good and enticing that is what we should choose. The false leads of the devil and his attempts to deceive us were meant to distract us and to mislead us into a way through which we shall be trapped and fall into harm’s path. The devil is hiding behind a facade of innocence and goodness in order to lure us away from the safety in God, and thus to destroy us. Just as wolves are trying many tricks to lure away the sheep away from their shepherds, thus in the same manner the devil is doing the same to us.

And therefore, all of us must be fully alert and be careful, that we would not fall into the trap of the devil. What is at stake here is nothing less than the fate of our eternal soul. Do we want to look forward to a good and blessed eternal life, in the presence of God? Or do we rather have the suffering and the eternal pain that is to come when we are cast out and rejected because of our sinful ways?

God will not abandon us to the darkness and to the damnation of hell. And yet, it is usually we ourselves that have abandoned the Lord and we walked away from Him. It is a conscious choice that we make if we are to follow God, or to follow the devil and all of his temptations. God calls everyone to be saved in Him, and the first reading showed all these very clearly.

Therefore, let us all spend some time to reflect on this, and let us all think about ways for us to help one another to reach out to God and to resist the temptations of the devil. Why is this so? Because all of us have to realise that each and every one of us who have called ourselves Christians, and who have become members and parts of the Church have that particular obligation, the obligation for us to be shepherds for each other, to help lead and guide one another in faith.

That is why I placed so much emphasis in the beginning on why it is important for us to know what does being a Christian mean to us. If we act as true Christians should act, then those who see us will also come to believe in the Lord as we have done, and our actions will inspire them greatly in serving the Lord our God. On the other hand however, if our actions do not reflect what we believe, or worse, even contradicting, then it is a great scandal of our faith.

Let us not bring one another to fall into eternal damnation, but instead let us help and support each other, so that together we may draw ever closer tor God our Lord and Shepherd, and let us commit ourselves to renew our faith in Him, and devote ourselves wholly to Him in body, heart and mind. God bless us all. Amen.

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Sunday, 17 April 2016 : Fourth Sunday of Easter, Good Shepherd Sunday, Vocation Sunday (Homily and Scripture Reflections)

Liturgical Colour : White

Dear brothers and sisters in Christ, on this day we commemorate the Fourth Sunday of Easter reckoned from the first Easter Sunday of our Lord’s Resurrection. And on this day, every year, we also celebrate a special occasion, with regards to the passages referred to in this Sunday’s reading, on the Lord Jesus as the Good Shepherd, the Shepherd of all the faithful.

Yes, today is the Good Shepherd Sunday, and which is also known as the Vocation Sunday, due to how related is the vocation to the priesthood to the concept of the ‘good shepherd’ which our Lord, the One and True Good Shepherd is showing those who walk in His path and follow His call to serve the greater purpose and higher calling to benefit the community of the faithful.

Jesus spoke of a good shepherd as those who know the sheep well, as compared to the thieves and the crooks who wanted to steal the sheep and bring these to harm. He is comparing Himself to the persona of the good shepherd in this manner, as He was leading His people like that of a shepherd to God His Father. And He as the Good Shepherd has set the example for us all to follow.

Therefore, there are a few important meanings to what we have heard in the Scriptures today. First of all, is that God is our Shepherd, and just as the true shepherd loves his sheep, thus God also loves each and every one of us. And He knows us all deep in our hearts, all of our secrets and thoughts, just as good shepherds know their sheep by heart.

And He Who loves us all will not want us to be lost to Him, as He will do His best to keep us all together and find us when we are lost. And in this, we should realise that this is why, God was willing to love us, to show us His mercy and to help us, even though we have erred and sinned many times in our lives, and even though we have indeed been very wicked. He is willing to give us another chance, as long as we are willing to change our ways, repent for our sins and return to Him in faith.

In another parable mentioned by Jesus, about a lost sheep from a flock of a hundred, He mentioned how the shepherd would leave behind all the sheep that are safe and sound, and set out to search for that one lost sheep until it is found and brought to safety. And when the shepherd had found the lost sheep, the joy of the shepherd and all the keepers will be great indeed, even greater than having all those that are already safe and sound in the flock.

That is the proof of how much God loves us, even more than the shepherd loves all of his sheep. In the first place, He did not create us all for nothing. He created everything, every beings and every creatures, all things out of love, and for us all, the greatest among His creations, He showed us all the greatest love of all. We were not intended from the beginning of time, for a life of suffering and difficulty, and neither should death have any power over us.

But it was because of our waywardness, and because of our disobedience and refusal to follow the laws of the Lord, that we have gone astray from our paths, and therefore became lost to sin and darkness. We are like sheep who are attracted to the sights and things outside of the safety of the flock and the guidance of the shepherd, and we desire to gain these things and go to them, without realising that in doing so, we expose ourselves to danger.

But our Lord, our loving Shepherd does not want us to end up in harm and in danger. And that was why He personally intervened by Himself, so that through His works and His actions, we all may be saved and brought back to His care and His embrace. And the Good Shepherd even laid down His own life for His sheep, as all good shepherds would. He allowed Himself to suffer and to be persecuted for our sake, and bearing our faults and sins, He carried that heavy cross and burden up the mountain to Calvary, where He offered Himself on the cross for our sake, to liberate us from the burden of sin and from the shackles of death.

And brothers and sisters in Christ, all of us who are now members of the Church, who have been baptised in the Holy Name of our Lord Jesus Christ, Father, Son and Holy Spirit, are those who have been found amidst the darkness and distractions of this world, and who God had assembled to be His flock, to receive His love and grace forevermore. But we also have to realise that not all have been saved yet.

For salvation is only found, and can only be found in the Church. And this is the second meaning and message of today’s Scripture. Jesus had Himself said that He is the Gate, and all the sheep pass through the gate, and good shepherds pass through that gate, while crooks and thieves tried to find other means to enter the place where the flock is being kept.

If we are outside the safety of the flock, then we are in great danger of being harmed by those who seek our downfall, and these are none other than the devil, his allies and all the forces of wickedness and evil scattered all over the world. They are hungry, awaiting for us to fall into the darkness, and so that they may consume us and bring us into eternal damnation with them.

Thus, the third important message and meaning of today’s Scripture is related to this Sunday being the Vocation Sunday as well. God may have ascended back into heaven and left us His people still living on earth. But He did not leave us behind all alone, for He has appointed shepherds in His stead, to be those who care for His sheep, to protect them and guide them to Him, the Good Shepherd of all His creations.

And these shepherds are our priests, those who dedicated themselves to the service of the Lord and His people in His Church. The vocation to the priesthood and the flock of people joining the priestly life is what we are concerned about today, since we all well know, how with the changing times, it is getting ever more and more difficult for us to have those who are willing to commit themselves to the Lord as His servants.

There are fewer and fewer young men who are willing to join the priesthood and enter the seminaries. Seminaries are getting emptier and smaller, and many even had to shut down because they no longer have anyone passing through their gates to prepare themselves for a life of service to God. Too many have been lured in by the temptations of the world, for the life of the world today is so much more exciting and pleasurable to us mankind, rather than the hard and tough life of a priest.

But without good and faithful shepherds like our priests, then who will bring the flock of the Lord to Him? Who will bring the countless lost sheep of the Lord back to His love? It is why today, all of us, brothers and sisters in Christ, we are all called to reflect on this dire state of our Church and our faith, in how we have that great need for many labourers of God’s love. God Himself had said it in another occasion, that while the harvest is plentiful, but the labourers are few.

Therefore, let us all pray together, brethren, that God will open the eyes, the hearts and the minds of those whom He has chosen to be His servants, and that they would not resist nor refuse the calling, but instead discern on them carefully, and hopefully that they will eventually decide to walk the path of priesthood, becoming shepherds to us, God’s beloved creation, and help to bring many lost souls to the salvation of God in the Church.

May God bless our priests, and also bless our young men, that many more people will embrace the call to service, and accept the vocation to priesthood, so that by their good works, they may bring many more people closer to God, and prevent many from being lost to hell and eternal damnation. May the Lord, our Good Shepherd, bless us all, now and forever. Amen.

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Tuesday, 12 April 2016 : Third Week of Easter (Homily and Scripture Reflections)

Liturgical Colour : White

Dear brothers and sisters in Christ, it is sad today to witness the persecution and death of the first martyr of the Church and our faith, St. Stephen the Protomartyr, one of the original seven deacons who have been selected to be those who would serve the people of God and distribute the goods they share with one another, and minister to them in love.

But St. Stephen did not fear the persecution by the world or the threats and pressures laid upon him. He made a long and passionate speech to the Council, reiterating the truth of God, and how God has worked to bring salvation to mankind throughout history, how mankind have rejected Him, and how God Who still loved men, sent to us the Saviour in Jesus Christ.

St. Stephen courageously defended his faith and spoke the truth. He did not mince his words or held back the truth, even though doing so certainly would have brought about the anger and wrath of the Council members, and which means his own death and suffering at their hands. But he faced it all with grace, knowing that God would be with His faithful ones.

The Council members, made up of the high priests, the elders, Pharisees and Sadducees, and the teachers of the Law refused to listen to the truth that St. Stephen had spoken. These people were seeking the bread of this world, that is trying to satisfy their earthly needs. But in doing so, they lost sight of what they truly should have looked for, that is for the eternal Bread of Life.

And the Living Bread of God had come upon them, Jesus, the Saviour of the world, the Divine Word Incarnate into flesh, Who walked among us as we are, dwelling among us and showing to us the way to salvation and eternal life. And He was the One Whom St. Stephen had been standing up for, defending his faith and belief in Him, even though many others refused to believe.

Thus, this is the same challenge that our Lord Jesus Christ is presenting to all of us, as we continue to walk through this life in this world. Are we doing things so far merely in order to satisfy our needs, desires and wants, or are we looking for and seeking for something greater and beyond our mere needs and wants? The essence of being Christians is that we should take up the challenge and seek for the greater glory and true satisfaction that we can find in God alone.

Let us all therefore work together and strive to find the true happiness in God, by committing ourselves to obey the Lord and His laws, and to follow Him in all of His ways. We have no need to worry if we are not capable of doing it, as God did not call the great and the mighty to do His will, but instead He called on the weak and those who are struggling, and to them, if they are faithful, God will bestow great blessings and graces, as He had shown with St. Stephen.

Let us all reflect on our own actions and practices. Have we been truly faithful to God in all the things we say and do? Have we been insincere in our faith, or indifferent? If we want to be truly faithful to God, then we should really show it through our words and actions. St. Stephen had shown us the example, and we ought to learn from it. We do not have to do the same thing as he had done, but what we need to do is to change our lives for the better, and serve God with greater commitment from now on.

May God help us and strengthen our resolve in this journey, and may He help us to find our way to Him, and attain eternal life and redemption that can be found in Him alone. God bless us all. Amen.

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Sunday, 10 April 2016 : Third Sunday of Easter (Homily and Scripture Reflections)

Liturgical Colour : White

Dear brothers and sisters in Christ, on this day, we heard about the works of the Apostles in preaching about Jesus our Lord and Saviour, and how the Pharisees and the elders were unhappy about that, and attempted to stop the Apostles from teaching the truth to the people in the Name of Jesus. But the Apostles were not at the least daunted or threatened.

They were in fact encouraged and heartened by the fact that they were able to endure the same suffering that their Lord had suffered at the hands of those who rejected Him. And they became ever more dedicated in carrying out the work entrusted to them. And because of their hard work, and the commitment of all those who came after them, countless souls had been saved, including us all, from the threat of eternal damnation and death.

And this is related to what we have heard in the Gospel today. The Gospel from the Gospel according to St. John told us about what happened in the days after Jesus had risen from the dead. On that occasion, at the shore of the Lake of Tiberias, while the disciples of Christ spent their time doing about what they have used to do before following Jesus, that is fishing, Jesus appeared to them.

And while they had spent the whole night trying to catch fish and yet caught nothing, He told them to follow His instruction, and spread the net on the side of the boat. Immediately they caught so many fishes, that the net almost broke, and the ship almost sank under the weight of the catch. And yet the two of them held on, and the Lord showed His Apostles the way through this yet another miracle He had performed.

In that reading, we should notice that there are many symbolisms related to our faith and our Church, as well as the mission which Jesus was giving His Apostles, and through them to all of us living even today, for us to undertake and to be responsible for. Therefore, let us now go through them one by one as we reflect on the words of our Lord today.

The fishermen, the Apostles represent all of us, God’s chosen people, including His chosen priests and all those who have given themselves to the service of the Lord and to His people, and the boat represents the Church, in which all the faithful are part of, and where all the faithful ones should be contained in. It is the vessel of salvation through which we find our liberation from sin and death, and find our path to eternal life.

Just as in another occasion when Jesus walked on the water approaching the disciples who were on a boat in the middle of a storm, the same symbolism is applied, where the Church is the boat, rocked by the waves and the winds from the terrible storm, representing the opposition of the world and the difficulties it is facing, as shown in our first reading today by the opposition of the elders and the chief priests.

But the Lord shows us that He stands by His Church and His faithful ones, and knowing this very well, the Apostles knew that the Lord was with them, and that was why they did not give up, even though they faced great persecution, scrutiny and pressure from the authorities to give up their work of evangelisation among the people. They continued their hard work regardless, and most of them indeed were martyred defending their faith.

And what is the hard work that they have done? It is the hard work of bringing the truth of God, the words of our Lord Jesus as He had spoken it, and delivering these to the people who have yet to hear of them. This is the command that our Lord had given to His disciples just before He ascended into heaven, and the command which is still relevant and in force even unto this very day, and likely into the future as well.

Why is this so? That is because we have to realise that, even though our Church today has grown to the point that it is definitely irrecognisable to the Apostles in the past, but the same conditions still apply. There are still many people who are outside the bounds of the Church, who are still outside the relative safety of the vessel of salvation, who have yet to hear the words of our God’s salvation and truth.

There are also many, even within the Church itself, and who called themselves as Christians, and yet, they hang dangerously at the edge of the precipice to damnation, as their actions showed contrary to their faith. And these are in danger of falling outside of the Church and the guarantee of salvation, as by their own actions they had made themselves unworthy of God’s promise.

The Apostles had been called to become fishers of men, leaving behind their old job behind, and instead of looking for fishes to be eaten and sold, they have been called to a higher purpose. They were to call upon men and get them to listen to the salvation which God has offered through His Church. And when they caught those so many fishes inside the net, this was in fact a representation of what they were to do, that is to gather many people from many nations, to be included as part of the Church and thus sharers in God’s salvation.

The same task is now awaiting us as well. There are so many of our brethren out there who need our help, our guidance and our assistance in leading them to God. If we do not do our part, then who else will? Let us therefore learn from the example of the Apostles, in their courage and commitment to God, and in their faith, in how they followed the Lord, knowing that doing so would earn them hatred, persecution and condemnation by the world, but eternal life and glory from God.

May God help us and may He awaken in each one of us the desire to love Him and to love our fellow men, so that we may be stirred in our hearts and encouraged in our limbs and bodies, that our mouths may speak the truth of God, our eyes may see the plight of our brethren still living in sin and darkness, our ears may hear their pleas, and our arms and legs may be moved to touch them and to help bring them closer to God and to His salvation. May God strengthen us and our faith, and keep us always in His love. Amen.

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Saturday, 9 April 2016 : Second Week of Easter (Homily and Scripture Reflections)

Liturgical Colour : White

Dear brothers and sisters in Christ, on this day, we heard how the Apostles assigned the first seven men to be what is called the order of Deacons, to serve the community of the faithful by distributing to them food and the daily rations, as the faithful at that time, if we read the rest of the Acts of Apostles, lived together as a community, sharing their goods and blessings with one another.

And then we heard in the Gospel about Jesus Who appeared to His disciples in the midst of a storm and walked on the water to reach out to them. The Apostles were scared and doubtful, thinking that they had seen a ghost. Their faith was still weak and wavering, and doubt was in their hearts. And this happened just after Jesus had fed the multitudes of five thousand men and countless other women and children with just five loaves of bread and two fishes.

The disciples then were still not able to comprehend the divine nature of our Lord Jesus, their Lord and Master. They were still in conflict on the nature and the truth which Jesus had told them about Himself. They thought that such miraculous works would have been possible and beyond human ability to comprehend. That was why they were doubtful, fearful and scared as they witnessed what the Lord had done.

But remember what Jesus had told them? Do not be afraid! And that was what He had told them all. It is I, your Lord and Master, do not be afraid! To Thomas, one of His Apostles, who have doubted about His resurrection, and who refused to believe that He had risen from the dead, Jesus also appeared to him, and told him, do not be an unbeliever! Believe!

We can clearly see the transformation between the Apostles at the time when Jesus was still walking with them on earth, and how they were after He had risen from the dead and sent them the Holy Spirit. They were thoroughly transformed, from those who were doubtful and whose faith were easily shaken, have become the pillars of the Church, as the foundation upon which God’s Church were gathered and where it could expand outwards from.

The lesson which all of us can learn from this is that, as all of us are members of the Church, we too have the same obligation as the Apostles to continue to carry on their good works for the people of God, our fellow brothers and sisters in the same Lord Jesus Christ. And each and every one of us can play our part to contribute to the good works of the Lord made through His Church.

We may have our fears, doubts, apprehensions and other things that are in fact obstacles to our active participation in the works of the Church, but this is precisely where we need to make a stand and change our lives for the better. We are just like the Apostles too, as after all, we are all still human beings, with our imperfections, our shortcomings and our weaknesses.

But God made the weak strong, and encouraged those who were downtrodden and without hope. He aroused in all of us the Spirit of love, the Spirit of hope, and the Spirit of faith, His own Holy Spirit through which He brings in us the best of our efforts to care for our brethren, and to show compassion to the weak, the poor and the unloved. And from all this, God will make us the instruments of His grace to the world.

Let us no longer be fearful or doubtful, and instead, let us all step forward filled with faith in our future, as we embark on this journey of faith, and as we celebrate the joy of this Easter season. Let us all be examples of faith to our brethren around us, and awaken in one another the strong desire to love our Lord, and at the same time, the spirit of charity and compassion to each other.

May God strengthen us in our resolve to live our lives with faith, and let us all embark on this journey to bring ourselves and one another closer to God and closer to His salvation. God bless us all, now and forever. Amen.

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Friday, 8 April 2016 : Second Week of Easter (Homily and Scripture Reflections)

Liturgical Colour : White

Dear brothers and sisters in Christ, today we heard about how the Apostles were spared a terrible punishment due to the intervention of Gamaliel, a renowned teacher of the Law, who spoke to the rest of the Jewish Council at length about how many past uprisings and sects had failed because they came from men and not from God. They were defeated, scattered and faded into oblivion.

And yet, the works of the Apostles and the disciples of Christ came not from men, but from God Himself, as the continuation of the good works of Christ our Lord and Saviour, through Whom God had revealed His truth and salvation to all mankind. And He commanded the Apostles and the disciples to carry forth the Good News to all mankind, in all the four corners of the world, to the furthest ends of the globe.

And in the Gospel, we heard how five thousand men and countless other women and children followed Jesus as they listened to His teachings and as He performed His healing works and miracles among them. And He blessed them, gave them food when they had none, turning the five loaves of bread and two fishes into food enough to feed all of them with much to spare.

We see how popular Jesus was, and how the crowds that followed Him always numbered in the many thousands and more. They followed Him even through difficult moments and times. They followed Him even through hunger and through thirst. And His Apostles and disciples in particular followed Him through even to follow Him on the path of His suffering and death on the cross.

What all these tell us is that, God does not abandon us in our times of distress, and especially for all those who follow Him, who are faithful to Him, and who devote themselves to His cause, He will bless them, care for them and make them great. He will make their works to be successful, as long as these are done for the greater glory of His Name.

But the works of the Apostles and the disciples of our Lord are not yet done. There are still so many things that can be done in order to bring the Good News and the light of our Lord to many people who have yet to hear of these, or those who have fallen wayward on their path to the Lord. There are many things that we can do to help them to return to the true faith, and help them to discover the truth of God for themselves.

Brothers and sisters in Christ, today as we reflect on the works of the Apostles, and the love of God which He had shown to us His beloved people, let us all commit ourselves anew to the works of evangelisation and the works of bringing God’s salvation to many people all over the world. May God help us in our works and in all of our endeavours, just as He has protected all of us all these while.

May the Lord bless us and strengthen us, and may His light shine always on our path, that we may not be lost, but will find our path to eternal life and glory in Him. Amen.

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Thursday, 7 April 2016 : Second Week of Easter, Memorial of St. John Baptist de la Salle, Priest (Homily and Scripture Reflections)

Liturgical Colour : White

Dear brothers and sisters in Christ, on this day we are presented from both the readings from the Acts of the Apostles and the Holy Gospels, of the realities of the contrast and conflicts that are present between the ways and the thinking of this world, as opposed to the ways of our Lord, which He had revealed to us through Jesus, His Son, and which He had passed down to us through His Apostles and His Church.

In the first reading, taken from the Acts of the Apostles, we continue on from the discourse of the previous days, telling us how the Pharisees, the elders and the chief priests were trying to bully the Apostles and the followers of Christ, using threats and fear in order to pressure them to stop their work and their preaching among the people of God. They thought that by doing so, they would be able to halt such an insurgency against their authority, but they were very wrong in this matter.

Not only that they were not at the least disturbed or affected by the threats, but they even courageously fought back by stating the truth before all of them to hear, as they pointed out that they ought to be obeying God rather than obeying any human authority above that of God’s. And that was a direct rebuke against the elders, the chief priests, the teachers of the Law, the Pharisees and all those who had been trying to stifle and hinder the works of God as exercised through His Apostles.

Through their examples, we can see how courageous we should be as well in how we lived our lives and in how we live our faith. Many of us today prefer to conform to the world and its ways rather than to stand by our Lord and God. Certainly, we have not been as faithful to Him as the Apostles had been. But if we think that those Apostles were extraordinary and beyond our means, then let us remember that they were once sinners too like us, and human as they were, they were not perfect. They too had their doubts and uncertainties, and moments when their faith was challenged.

But God showed them the way, and led them out of their uncertainty and doubts, and He blessed them with courage and strength in order to persevere through those challenges and made their faith firmer and stronger. And through His Holy Spirit, they spoke the truth of the Gospel and the truth as revealed through Jesus Christ our Lord to the whole world, that all those who heard the truth may find their way to salvation.

Today, we celebrate the feast day of a great educator, a holy and devout man, namely, St. John Baptist de la Salle, a priest hailing from Rheims, who lived about two hundred years ago. St. John Baptist de la Salle inspired a great movement and effort through which Christian education and evangelisation were boosted and spread rapidly throughout the world, as missionaries and faithful educators went forth to the four corners of the world preaching the truth of Christ through education.

St. John Baptist de la Salle was born from a privileged family, and he eventually entered the priesthood and devoted himself as a canon of the Cathedral of Rheims, living a comfortable life as how many of the clergy of those years had lived. But instead of remaining as he was in that comfortable position, he went forth and abandoned those comforts, as he heard the higher call to serve the less privileged, the abandoned and the unloved, especially those who have none to bring them the truth of our God.

That was when St. John Baptist de la Salle founded the society of the Brothers of Christian Schools, which members devoted themselves to the advancement of the education of the masses, and the evangelisation of the truth of God through the same education, that through the practice of the faith in their daily action, all of them may find the path to God’s salvation through greater understanding of their faith.

We should see in his examples, and the examples of those who have been inspired by his examples, as the inspiration for us as well, that we may follow in the footsteps of St. John Baptist de la Salle and the Apostles, in preaching the Word of God through words and actions, that all of us may receive the salvation which God has promised to us through His Son, Jesus Christ our Lord.

Let us commit ourselves anew, brothers and sisters in Christ, and commit ourselves wholly to help one another to reach out to the Lord and His salvation. Let us help one another, reminding each other of the obligations we have to follow the Lord and to obey Him even if the whole world may be against us. Let us make use of this season of Easter to deepen our faith and commitment to the Lord, and help to propel ourselves further on the way to eternal life. May God help us and bless us all in our endeavours. Amen.

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Wednesday, 6 April 2016 : Second Week of Easter (Homily and Scripture Reflections)

Liturgical Colour : White

Dear brothers and sisters in Christ, on this day we heard that very famous phrase from the Holy Scriptures, from the Holy Gospel according to St. John, verse 3, which spoke about the love of God, that it is so great, that He was willing to send us His Son, Who is Jesus our Lord, that through Him we may not face death, but find eternal redemption and eternal life through Him.

What we have learnt from the Scripture readings today is that God loves us all, and He wants to save us all from the threat of hellfire and eternal damnation, as well as everlasting death. He shall not abandon us to the sufferings of eternal hell. God will protect all those who are faithful to Him, and He shall send His Angels to protect His people, guarding them from those who sought to bring them to damnation.

This was seen in the examples of the Holy Apostles which we heard as told by the Acts of the Apostles. The Apostles were preaching the faith and the truth told by Jesus our Lord to the people, and the Pharisees, the teachers of the Law, the elders and the chief priests were not happy that these Apostles were drawing the people away from them and gaining in influence and human regards.

As a result, they persecuted the Apostles, restricting them and arresting them whenever they could, including what we have witnessed today from the Acts of the Apostles. They imprisoned them and wanted to judge them falsely with false accusations and false judgments in order to silence them and stop their evangelising works. But God had other plans for them, one that no human authority and power could have undone.

For God freed the Apostles through His Angels, and by His guidance, they continued their ministry to the people of God, and despite the continued opposition by the Pharisees and the other enemies of the Lord and His truth, the Apostles continued to establish the Church and strengthened it through turbulent and difficult times. And more and more souls were saved by being welcomed into the Church and by their belief in the Lord Jesus.

God shows His grace and blessings to all those who have kept their faith in Him, and He shall not disappoint all those who have placed their trust in Him. For indeed, while the trust of men is feeble and weak, and can cause disappointments easily, but to trust in God is like to trust in a strong and firm rock, immovable and solid, amidst all the uncertainties and challenges of this life.

Brothers and sisters in Christ, as we proceed through this joyous season of Easter, let us all reflect on our own lives, our deeds and actions. Let us all think about how we have lived our lives and in how we have interacted with one another. Have we truly been faithful to God? Or have we instead been swayed by the temptations of this world to deviate from the necessity for us to keep our faith strongly anchored in Him?

Let us ask ourselves, if we have placed our trust far more in ourselves rather than trusting in God and in His promises. This is the reason why so many of us were so reluctant in following God and in committing ourselves to His cause. Remember, brethren, that the Lord Himself had spoken, how the harvest is plentiful in this world, and yet the labourers are few. We have to step up and be courageous in committing ourselves to bring the Lord closer to ourselves and to our brethren around us.

Let us help one another on our path, and help each other to strive to walk in His path in our actions and our dealings with one another. Let our actions be examples for others, through whose actions, we may bring them closer to God, and therefore make ourselves each to be worthy of the Lord and of the salvation and the eternal life He has promised us. May God bless us all and keep us always in His love. God bless us all. Amen.