Easter Monday

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Monday, 21 April 2025 : Monday within Easter Octave (Homily and Scripture Reflections)

Liturgical Colour : White

Dear brothers and sisters in Christ, today as we all continue to rejoice greatly during this Easter Octave and season, we are all reminded that as Christians it is our responsibility and calling for us to proclaim the Lord’s truth and Resurrection, His Good News and everything that He has revealed to us and taught to us through His Church. As Christians, it is imperative that we should always be exemplary and worthy in all and everything that we do in each and every moments of our lives, being inspiration and role models for all those around us, our brethren in faith. It is through our commitment to the Lord by our worthy lives and also our faithful testimony of the Risen Lord that we can truly be called as good and faithful Christians, as we all should be.

In our first reading today from the Acts of the Apostles, we heard from the words of the Apostle St. Peter who continued to proclaim about the Risen Lord together with the other Apostles right after the Holy Spirit descended and came down upon them during the time of the Pentecost, the fiftieth day after the Passover and the Lord’s glorious Resurrection from the dead. The Holy Spirit that came down upon the Apostles gave them the courage and strength to speak up the truth and overcome their fears and uncertainties, as they embarked on the mission which the Lord Himself has entrusted to them, that is to proclaim His salvation and Good News to all the people of all the nations. Despite all the threats and oppositions faced by St. Peter and the other Apostles from the chief priests and the other enemies of the Lord, they all proclaimed courageously what the Lord had done for His people.

And this included all the good things that God had done in fulfilling the words of the prophets, in completing the long planned and awaited God’s plans to rescue all of us mankind. St. Peter spoke of how the same Christ, Jesus the Son of God, Who had been sent to the world to save everyone, and had been rejected and persecuted by the Jewish authorities who refused to listen to Him and His truth. And yet, as the Apostles had testified, that the Lord Jesus did not remain in the state of death, but having triumphed over sin and death, conquering those and showing everyone that truly there is hope and life after and beyond death, the Risen Lord has proven the truth and veracity of all of God’s promises, how He would liberate us all from the tyranny of sin and all the forces of evil that have kept us bound and dominated all these while.

This is a reminder to the people of God of just how once He had shown His love to them by leading them all out from their enslavement in the land of Egypt, showing them His might and power as He rained down destruction on the Egyptians and their Pharaoh while keeping His people safe, and finally leading them all out from their slavery through the sea, to the land of freedom and plenty which He has promised to their ancestors and to all of them, the descendants of those faithful people whom God had called and chosen to be His own. Now, through Christ, the Apostles revealed that the Lord has extended this freedom and liberation, not only from the physical slavery as once experienced by the Israelites in Egypt, but even more importantly, liberation from the bondage, shackles and slavery to our sins and evils, to the darkness surrounding and keeping us bound under its tyranny.

Then, in our Gospel passage today, we heard from the Gospel according to St. Matthew the Apostle and Evangelist in which we were told of what happened immediately after the Lord Jesus rose from the dead, when the Lord appeared before the women who went to the tomb early on Sunday morning, on that day when the Lord gloriously rose from the dead, appearing before all the disciples afterwards and fulfilling everything that He had promised to them about His suffering, death and ultimately how He would rise in glory on the third day after just as everything He said it would be. But the chief priests and the Temple authorities wished to keep this news on the Resurrection which began to rapidly spread at that time, from spreading even more, and as we heard in the Gospel passage, they tried to spread lies and falsehoods to counter the truth about the Resurrection of the Lord.

And why did those Temple authorities and chief priests did so, brothers and sisters in Christ? That is likely because they feared the ever growing influence of the Lord that had made them to be jealous and unhappy at the rapid spread of the Lord’s teachings and ways, many of which they disagreed with, as many among them proudly kept on to their way of observing the Law and commandments of God, refusing to listen to the Lord and to believe in His teachings and truth. And that led to them putting false accusations on Him and condemning Him to death, but yet all those did not manage to stop the Lord and His truth. In fact, the Resurrection of the Lord proved all the truth behind everything that He had revealed, leading to those who still refused to believe in Him to scramble and panic in trying to contain the news.

Brothers and sisters in Christ, through what we have heard in today’s Gospel and other Scripture passages, we are therefore reminded of the need for all of us to be courageous in standing up for our faith in God and in His truth. If the Apostles at that time had not allowed the Lord to lead and guide them in their paths, and giving them the courage to defend the Lord’s Resurrection, then the truth would have been hidden and buried forever, and few if any would have benefitted from the loving sacrifice of Our Lord, Who has revealed God’s long planned salvation for all of us mankind. We should do our best in our daily living so that by our courageous faith and our desire to proclaim the Lord in all of our daily activities, we may be His faithful and devoted missionaries, not just through words but also genuine actions.

May our Risen Lord therefore continue to help us in our journey of faith and life, in our daily commitment to walk faithfully in this path of a missionary disciple, in doing what the Lord had told us to do, proclaiming His Resurrection and the Good News of His salvation in our daily living, in being good and faithful disciples of our Risen Lord at all times. We should be good role models and inspirations for our fellow brothers and sisters, and in inspiring many others to live lives that are truly worthy of God in all circumstances. May God be with us all, and may He bless our every good efforts and endeavours, now and always. Amen.

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Monday, 21 April 2025 : Monday within Easter Octave (Gospel Reading)

Liturgical Colour : White

Matthew 28 : 8-15

At that time, the woman left the tomb at once in fear, yet with great joy, and they ran to tell the news to Jesus’ disciples. Suddenly, He met them on the way and said, “Rejoice!” The women approached Him, embraced His feet and worshipped Him. But Jesus said to them, “Do not be afraid! Go and tell My brothers to set out for Galilee; there they will see Me.”

While the women were on their way, the guards returned to the city, and some of them reported to the chief priests all that had happened. The chief priests met with the elders, and decided to give the soldiers a large sum of money, with this instruction, “Say that His disciples came by night while you were asleep, and stole the Body of Jesus. If Pilate comes to know of this, we will explain the situation and keep you out of trouble.”

The soldiers accepted the money and did as they were told. This story has circulated among the Jews until this day.

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Monday, 21 April 2025 : Monday within Easter Octave (Psalm)

Liturgical Colour : White

Psalm 15 : 1-2a and 5, 7-8, 9-10, 11

Keep me safe, o God, for in You I take refuge. I say to the Lord, “O Lord, my inheritance and my cup, my chosen portion – hold secure my lot.”

I bless the Lord Who counsels me; even at night my inmost self instructs me. I keep the Lord always before me; for with Him at my right hand, I will never be shaken.

My heart, therefore, exults, my soul rejoices; my body too will rest assured. For You will not abandon my soul to the grave, nor will You suffer Your Holy One to see decay in the land of the dead.

You will show me the path of life, in Your presence the fullness of joy, at Your right hand happiness forever.

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Monday, 21 April 2025 : Monday within Easter Octave (First Reading)

Liturgical Colour : White

Acts 2 : 14, 22-33

Then Peter stood up with the Eleven and, with a loud voice, addressed them, “Fellow Jews and all foreigners now staying in Jerusalem, listen to what I have to say. Fellow Israelites, listen to what I am going to tell you about Jesus of Nazareth. God accredited Him and through Him did powerful deeds and wonders and signs in your midst, as you well know.”

“You delivered Him to sinners to be crucified and killed, and in this way the purpose of God from all times was fulfilled. But God raised Him to life and released Him from the pain of death, because it was impossible for Him to be held in the power of death. David spoke of Him when He said : I saw the Lord before me at all times; He is by my side, that I may not be shaken.”

“Therefore my heart was glad and my tongue rejoiced; my body too will live in hope. Because You will not forsake me in the abode of the dead, nor allow Your Holy One to experience corruption. You have made known to me the paths of life, and Your presence will fill me with joy.”

“Friends, I do not need to prove that the patriarch David died and was buried; his tomb is with us to this day. But he knew that God had sworn to him that One of his descendants would sit upon his throne and, as he was a prophet, he foresaw and spoke of the resurrection of the Messiah. So he said that He would not be left in the region of the dead, nor would His Body experience corruption.

This Messiah is Jesus and we are all witnesses that God raised Him to life. He has been exalted at God’s right side and the Father has entrusted the Holy Spirit to Him; this Spirit He has just poured upon us as you now see and hear.

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Monday, 1 April 2024 : Monday within Easter Octave (Homily and Scripture Reflections)

Liturgical Colour : White

Dear brothers and sisters in Christ, today as we continue with the glorious celebration of Easter, we are all reminded of the truth of the Lord’s Resurrection which He has shown to all of His Apostles and disciples who have witnessed all the events and things that happened at that time, when the Lord Who have died on the Cross and was buried, rose in glory, appearing in all of His Risen wonder and brilliance, having conquered and sin and death, proving to every one of us that sin and death do not have the final say over us. He has triumphed through His Holy Cross, and what was known as the symbol of the ultimate punishment and humiliation has become the instrument of salvation and liberation for all mankind, and also the sign of ultimate Hope and Victory, which He has brought unto us, and we have received the assurance of this triumph and victory.

In our first reading today, we heard from the Acts of the Apostles in which St. Peter the Apostle stood firmly before all the people assembled in Jerusalem during the time of the Festival of the Pentecost, when many people came to Jerusalem from all over the Jewish diaspora, together with many other visitors, all of whom were astonished at the great wisdom and courage showed by the Apostles and the other disciples, who have received the Holy Spirit descending upon them, giving them the strength and the wisdom to speak out their minds, with the Divine guidance and providence, proclaiming everything that they themselves had witnessed about the Risen Lord, the glorious Resurrection of the Saviour, as well as everything that He had done in this world, His mission and how He has called on all the whole world to follow Him.

That was how St. Peter the Apostle spoke with such great fire in him, proclaiming all that the Lord had done in reaching out to His beloved people, in gathering all of them once again from being scattered all over the whole world, only for Him to face opposition, ridicule, rejection and stubborn refusal by so many who refused to listen to Him, or to believe in His truth and wisdom, in all that He has done and shown to them. St. Peter spoke courageously amidst the people about the suffering, all the things that this Saviour has suffered and endured during His Passion, the moment when He had to face a lot of hardships, trials, humiliations, and ultimately faced the punishment for the sins and mistakes which He Himself had not committed, but which He willingly took upon Himself, so that by His loving and most selfless sacrifice and offering of Himself, He has become the source of our salvation and redemption.

God has sent His Son to us all, so that by His coming into this world, and by everything that He has done, in obeying His Father’s will and in offering His most perfect and worthy offering, His actions had broken us all free from the prison of sin, evil and death. No longer that sin and death have any more power over us, although they can still harm us if we choose to stay away from God and reject His love. His glorious Resurrection is like a great Light that illuminates our path in the darkness of this world, piercing through the veil that sin has placed before us, that now we all can see the truth and the salvation which God has been promising us, and we have this Hope placed in us, knowing that if we remain true and faithful to Him, then in the end, we shall share in His glory and triumph, and enter into the eternal and glorious inheritance promised to us.

In our Gospel passage today, we heard from the account in the Gospel of St. Matthew of the appearance of the Lord Jesus after His Resurrection to some of His followers, the women of the group, whom He told that they should tell His other disciples to find Him in Galilee just as He Himself has told them. We then also heard how the opponents of the Lord made many efforts to try to stop the truth about the Lord’s Resurrection and His disappeared Body which had made quite a ruckus among the people, even to the point of making bribes and false, made-up stories about what happened, in order to try to sway the populace to belief in their version of the story, saying that the disciples of the Lord had stolen His Body, while the truth was that the Lord has indeed risen gloriously from the dead. They tried in vain to stop the truth from spreading, even so far as to persecute the Lord’s disciples and ordering them not to proclaim the Resurrection, to no avail.

That was because the disciples of the Lord themselves had seen the Risen Lord, experienced His Presence and everything that He has done and spoken to them, and through the courage and strength that God had provided to them, He has helped all of them to remain true and strong in their faith, and in their commitment to walk the path that He has called all of them to follow. The Risen Lord has commissioned them all to go forth and proclaim the Good News to all the whole world, to all the people who have been called to His love and compassion, to spread to them more of the truth about everything, and this same mission has also been entrusted to us all as members and parts of God’s Church. It is important that each and every one of us as Christians realise this calling and the mission which we have been entrusted with so that we can do our best to fulfil everything that we are all supposed to do.

As Christians, this Easter time and season is a reminder for all of us to go forth and be active in doing what God had called us to do, to be His worthy disciples and great role models, inspirations and strength for everyone around us so that by our every actions, words and deeds, by everything that we say and do, in every moments and opportunities, even in the smallest things, we will be the shining beacons of God’s Light and truth, His love and kindness towards us, being good inspiration and strength for all our fellow brethren who may still be struggling in their faith and in their willingness to follow the Lord in all that He has entrusted to them in their own various ways. Let us all be their pillars of support and strength, helping each other to carry out God’s will and mission, at all times and opportunities, as courageous and faithful servants and followers of the Risen Lord.

May the Risen Lord, Our Saviour, continue to bless us all and guide us in all of our journey throughout life. May He empower and strengthen each and every one of us in our struggles and in our efforts to follow Him, despite all the challenges, trials and hardships that may come our way. We must not easily lose hope and we have to remain firmly focused on the Lord, entrusting ourselves to Him, and believing in everything that He Himself has shown us, that in the end, we shall be raised together with Him into an everlasting existence with Him, in true bliss, joy and glory. May God be with us always, now and forevermore. Amen.

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Monday, 1 April 2024 : Monday within Easter Octave (Gospel Reading)

Liturgical Colour : White

Matthew 28 : 8-15

At that time, the woman left the tomb at once in fear, yet with great joy, and they ran to tell the news to Jesus’ disciples. Suddenly, He met them on the way and said, “Rejoice!” The women approached Him, embraced His feet and worshipped Him. But Jesus said to them, “Do not be afraid! Go and tell My brothers to set out for Galilee; there they will see Me.”

While the women were on their way, the guards returned to the city, and some of them reported to the chief priests all that had happened. The chief priests met with the elders, and decided to give the soldiers a large sum of money, with this instruction, “Say that His disciples came by night while you were asleep, and stole the Body of Jesus. If Pilate comes to know of this, we will explain the situation and keep you out of trouble.”

The soldiers accepted the money and did as they were told. This story has circulated among the Jews until this day.

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Monday, 1 April 2024 : Monday within Easter Octave (Psalm)

Liturgical Colour : White

Psalm 15 : 1-2a and 5, 7-8, 9-10, 11

Keep me safe, o God, for in You I take refuge. I say to the Lord, “O Lord, my inheritance and my cup, my chosen portion – hold secure my lot.”

I bless the Lord Who counsels me; even at night my inmost self instructs me. I keep the Lord always before me; for with Him at my right hand, I will never be shaken.

My heart, therefore, exults, my soul rejoices; my body too will rest assured. For You will not abandon my soul to the grave, nor will You suffer Your Holy One to see decay in the land of the dead.

You will show me the path of life, in Your presence the fullness of joy, at Your right hand happiness forever.

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Monday, 1 April 2024 : Monday within Easter Octave (First Reading)

Liturgical Colour : White

Acts 2 : 14, 22-33

Then Peter stood up with the Eleven and, with a loud voice, addressed them, “Fellow Jews and all foreigners now staying in Jerusalem, listen to what I have to say. Fellow Israelites, listen to what I am going to tell you about Jesus of Nazareth. God accredited Him and through Him did powerful deeds and wonders and signs in your midst, as you well know.”

“You delivered Him to sinners to be crucified and killed, and in this way the purpose of God from all times was fulfilled. But God raised Him to life and released Him from the pain of death, because it was impossible for Him to be held in the power of death. David spoke of Him when He said : I saw the Lord before me at all times; He is by my side, that I may not be shaken.”

“Therefore my heart was glad and my tongue rejoiced; my body too will live in hope. Because You will not forsake me in the abode of the dead, nor allow Your Holy One to experience corruption. You have made known to me the paths of life, and Your presence will fill me with joy.”

“Friends, I do not need to prove that the patriarch David died and was buried; his tomb is with us to this day. But he knew that God had sworn to him that One of his descendants would sit upon his throne and, as he was a prophet, he foresaw and spoke of the resurrection of the Messiah. So he said that He would not be left in the region of the dead, nor would His Body experience corruption.

This Messiah is Jesus and we are all witnesses that God raised Him to life. He has been exalted at God’s right side and the Father has entrusted the Holy Spirit to Him; this Spirit He has just poured upon us as you now see and hear.

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Monday, 10 April 2023 : Monday within Easter Octave (Homily and Scripture Reflections)

Liturgical Colour : White

Dear brothers and sisters in Christ, today we all continue to celebrate with great joy the celebrations of Easter that began with Easter Vigil and Easter Sunday, as this is just the second day of the Octave of Easter, which lasts until the Second Sunday of Easter or Divine Mercy Sunday, and in fact, the whole Easter season lasts a period of an entire fifty days until the Pentecost Sunday. Yet, from what we have also heard from our Scripture passages today, we are also reminded that our Easter joy and celebrations should not be limited and restricted just to that period only, as we must realise that what we celebrate this Easter is something fundamental and important in our Christian faith, as we rejoice and celebrate together our Lord’s glorious Resurrection from the dead, and how He has saved each one of us from our predicament and sins, by His Passion, His suffering, death and Resurrection.

In our first reading today, we heard from the Acts of the Apostles of the works of the Apostles, led by St. Peter, who went forth amongst the people on the day of the Pentecost, fifty days after the Lord’s Resurrection, to proclaim among them all the truth about the Lord, all of His works, His Resurrection and all that He had done, for the salvation of all the people. Back then, the disciples of the Lord had been hiding in fear after the Lord’s Ascension into Heaven, as the Jewish leaders, the chief priests and the elders who had mostly been opposed to the Lord and His teachings, had banned anyone from teaching or speaking in His Name, and vowed to persecute anyone who did so. That was why they were in hiding, while praying and gathering together as a community of believers. Then, on the day of the Pentecost, the Holy Spirit came upon the disciples just as the Lord Himself had promised, and the Holy Spirit strengthened the disciples and encouraged them, gave them Wisdom and power to carry out what the Lord wanted them to do.

That was how they all became so courageous, in going forth from their hiding, and no longer hiding their beliefs, but preaching about the Risen Lord openly among the people, during the time when many people from the Jewish diaspora and beyond came to Jerusalem for the Pentecost festival. They all spoke with vigour and strength, and as St. Peter had done, they told them all of the wonderful things that God had done through His Son Jesus Christ, the One Whom the people had just recently rejected and condemned to death, put on the Cross to die and yet, by Whose death, God has willingly accepted His perfect offering and sacrifice, to redeem all of us from our many sins and wickedness. God has been reconciled with us through His Son, and by His Resurrection, Christ has shown us the sure path to eternal life. St. Peter spoke to all assembled of how Christ has revealed God’s salvation to all through His coming into this world and His Resurrection, fulfilling the promises that God had made to all their forefathers.

This is the same truth that they themselves had received from the holy women, Mary of Magdalene and others who went to the tomb of the Lord on the morning of Easter Sunday, only to see the tomb empty and open, without any Body and anyone inside. We heard from our Gospel passage today how the Angel of God proclaimed to the women that the Lord has risen gloriously from the dead just as He has foretold. We heard how the fulfilment of God’s promises had indeed come through Christ, and then of how those same chief priests and their supporters tried to hide and conceal the truth in the same Gospel passage, by bribing the soldiers and the officials to tell lies and untruths about what had actually happened, to the point of stating that the disciples had come to steal the Body of the Lord while the soldiers were sleeping, which was something that was truly unbelievable as the Roman soldiers then were renowned for their discipline and watchfulness.

That was unfortunately the extent of the lack of faith of the people of God, those whom the Lord had first appeared to and called first. Many of those chief priests and elders were so hard set in their ways and beliefs that they were unable to open their hearts and minds to listen to the Lord and to His truth that has been delivered and shown to them, despite the many times that they had witnessed the works of the Lord, His truth and all that He has taught among the people of God. This is because they had allowed worldly vices and ambitions, their attachments to worldly glory and desires to cloud their vision and judgments, leading them to close their hearts and minds against God, and turning themselves into obstacles and barriers in the path of many who are coming to seek the Lord. And yet, the Lord still called His disciples to proclaim His truth to them, as what many of them would do to reach out to these stubborn ones.

As we all know, God even made one of them to be one of His own most fervent followers, as one of the most passionate and courageous defenders of the faith, namely St. Paul the Apostle, who was once a great persecutor of Christians and an enemy of the Lord. In his foolish pursuit for power and influence, and in the misguided path he traversed as a young Pharisee named Saul, easily swayed by the temptations of worldly glory and by his misdirected zeal, caused by the distortions and falsehoods that the chief priests and the Pharisees themselves had spread, in making themselves to believe that the Lord Jesus was a fraud and that His teachings were blasphemous and a heresy, hence, causing St. Paul as the young Saul and many others to do what was against God’s will, resisting His good works and actions.

Brothers and sisters in Christ, now as we all gather together today to continue to rejoice in the Easter joy, and as we continue to live our lives as faithful and good Christians, let us all therefore renew our commitment to the Lord, to be evangelising disciples in our outreach and efforts to proclaim the Word of God, His truth and resurrection to more and more people all throughout the whole world, in our respective communities, families, circles of friends, in our schools and workplaces. Let us all be the beacons of the Light of Christ and the Hope of His Resurrection, in the midst of all the communities that we are all part of. Let us all be the source of inspiration and hope for everyone who are still suffering and enduring a lot of hardships, or are in the midst of sorrows and despair, that just as Christ has come into our midst bearing His Light of Hope and salvation, we may also bring that same Light to our brethren in need.

May all of us be courageous in proclaiming the word of God and may we continue to be exemplary in our lives and actions so that we may truly be genuine Christians in our way of life, in our every actions, dealings and interactions. May the Risen Lord continue to encourage and strengthen us so that we may keep on venturing further like the Apostles and disciples of the Lord, in doing the good works of the Lord, for the salvation of many people who are in need of the light and hope of God in their midst. May all of us be the faithful bearers of Christ’s Light in our communities and societies all around us. Amen.

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Monday, 10 April 2023 : Monday within Easter Octave (Gospel Reading)

Liturgical Colour : White

Matthew 28 : 8-15

At that time, the woman left the tomb at once in fear, yet with great joy, and they ran to tell the news to Jesus’ disciples. Suddenly, He met them on the way and said, “Rejoice!” The women approached Him, embraced His feet and worshipped Him. But Jesus said to them, “Do not be afraid! Go and tell My brothers to set out for Galilee; there they will see Me.”

While the women were on their way, the guards returned to the city, and some of them reported to the chief priests all that had happened. The chief priests met with the elders, and decided to give the soldiers a large sum of money, with this instruction, “Say that His disciples came by night while you were asleep, and stole the Body of Jesus. If Pilate comes to know of this, we will explain the situation and keep you out of trouble.”

The soldiers accepted the money and did as they were told. This story has circulated among the Jews until this day.