Easter Octave

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Tuesday, 22 April 2025 : Tuesday within Easter Octave (Homily and Scripture Reflections)

Liturgical Colour : White

Dear brothers and sisters in Christ, today as all of us continue to progress through this most joyful season of Easter, we are reminded yet again of the calling which all of us have received from the Lord, to be witnesses of His Resurrection, the bearers of His Good News and Light to all the nations, and as the ones to share and show His love manifested through us and our actions, in each and every moments of our lives. All of us have been called to bear witness to our Christian faith through our faithful actions in life, by our obedience to the Law of God and the commandments that He has taught to us through His Church. We should always be exemplary in how we live our lives so that as good and faithful Christians, we may inspire many more people in their lives and that they may also strive to come closer to God.

In our first reading today, taken from the Book of the Acts of the Apostles we heard the conclusion of the account of what happened on the day of the Pentecost, fifty days after the Day of the Lord’s Resurrection when the Holy Spirit empowered St. Peter the Apostle and the other Apostles and disciples of the Lord with the courage and the wisdom to speak the truth about the Lord and His Resurrection to the many people assembled in Jerusalem. St. Peter spoke courageously defending their faith before everyone, stating how everything had happened to the Lord Jesus, Who was crucified in Jerusalem after being condemned by the Temple authorities and then, rose from the dead after He had died on the Cross, all of these happened because of the Lord’s desire to bring forth His salvation to all the people of all the nations by the sacrifice of His Son on the Cross.

Therefore, St. Peter spoke at length with the wisdom of the Holy Spirit and testifying for what he and the other Apostles had witnessed during their time with the Lord, revealing how God had given all of us mankind a remedy for all of our sins and all of our predicaments, providing for us the path out of the darkness. He has given us the gift and assurance of His salvation which He made evident through the baptism that He has made available to everyone through His Church and disciples. It was at that moment when the Church began manifesting itself to the world, on the day of the Pentecost, with three thousand people having embraced the faith and made themselves to be baptised by the Apostles, marking the moment when the Church became tangible to the world.

Then, from our Gospel passage today, taken from the Gospel according to St. John the Apostle and Evangelist, we heard of the occasion when the Lord Jesus, just Resurrected from the dead, made His appearance to St. Mary Magdalene, the first to whom the Lord made Himself known and seen by His disciples right after He had risen from the dead. She and other women following the Lord had been rushing to the tomb of the Lord on the morning of the Sunday after the Sabbath to put the spices and ointments on the Body of the Lord because they were unable to do so at the moments after His crucifixion as it happened right before the Sabbath. But they were all greeted by the surprising sight of the Tomb being opened and the Body having disappeared from it.

It was when St. Mary Magdalene was distraught in that garden near the Tomb that the Risen Lord appeared to her and made Himself known to her, consoling her and revealing the truth about His death and how He has triumphed over ever death itself, just as He has predicted and told her and the other disciples. The disciples of the Lord came to know of this Good News because St. Mary Magdalene herself and the other women went rushing to them to tell them of the Lord’s Resurrection, and they all then saw the Risen Lord Himself in the flesh, in His glorified and Resurrected Body, proving and showing to them all that He was not merely a Spirit or a ghost. He took food and ate it before them, showing that He was truly alive, in Body and Spirit, and revealing to us what we will ourselves experience at well through our own resurrection.

Brothers and sisters in Christ, as we have discussed and heard earlier from the Scriptures, as well as from what we believe in our Christian faith, all of us believe that one day, all of us shall also share in the glorious resurrection of our Lord, risen in our body and spirit at the time of the Final Judgment, so that we may fully and completely enjoy the fullness of God’s grace and blessings, to enjoy forever the eternity in bliss and true happiness with our Lord Who loves us all, just as He has always intended for us. Sin has put a temporary stop to this and prevented us from achieving this state, while it made us corrupted and defiled because of our disobedience against God, and our inability to resist the many temptations present around us. But God Himself has shown us the path out of this darkness and predicament, opening the path for us to eternal life.

As we continue to pass through this time and season of Easter, all of us are reminded that each and every one of us should always be active in living our lives as good and courageous Christians, in standing up to our faith and beliefs in the Resurrected Christ, in the Son of God made Man, Who has suffered most grieviously for us, and which He had done willingly out of love for us. It is through this Resurrection that we have new hope in the Lord, and how we can keep on going in this world and life amidst all the challenges, difficulties and hardships we may have to endure and encounter in our respective paths. There are a lot of temptations trying to keep us away from God and His salvation, and many among us may be seriously tempted to leave behind the path of the Lord, to choose instead the path of worldliness and evils.

But we must not lose faith in the Lord, and instead we should deepen our faith and trust in Him even more, by developing a truly genuine and healthy relationship between us and God. And how do we do this, brothers and sisters? It is by spending good time in communication with God, through prayer, charity and other works that we do in His Name. Each and every one of us are God’s beloved and holy children, we have been given the assurance from God that we will be with Him and share with Him the joy of the Resurrection when the time comes for us to experience it, if we remain truly faithful in Him, and are righteous and worthy in our deeds and lives. Let us all therefore strive to do our part in being worthy bearers of the truth of God’s Resurrection, His Good News and salvation to the nations. Let us all continue to bear witness to the Lord in wherever we are in our communities, and do our best to serve the Lord at all times.

May our Risen Lord continue to strengthen us in faith and guide us all towards Him, and may He bless us all in everything we do, in our every good efforts and works, for His greater glory, now and always. Amen.

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Tuesday, 22 April 2025 : Tuesday within Easter Octave (Gospel Reading)

Liturgical Colour : White

John 20 : 11-18

At that time, Mary stood weeping outside the tomb; and as she wept, she bent down to look inside. She saw two Angels in white, sitting where the Body of Jesus had been, one at the head, and the other at the feet. They said, “Woman, why are you weeping?”

She answered, “Because they have taken my Lord and I do not know where they have put Him.” As she said this, she turned around and saw Jesus standing there, but she did not recognise Him. Jesus said to her, “Woman, why are you weeping? Who are you looking for?”

She thought it was the gardener and answered Him, “Lord, if You have taken Him away, tell me where You have put Him, and I will go and remove Him.” Jesus said to her, “Mary!” She turned, and said to Him, “Rabboni!” – which means Master. Jesus said to her, “Do not touch Me, because I have not yet ascended to the Father. But go to My brothers and say to them : I am ascending to My Father, Who is your Father, to My God, Who is your God.”

So Mary of Magdala went and announced to the disciples, “I have seen the Lord, and this is what He said to me.”

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Tuesday, 22 April 2025 : Tuesday within Easter Octave (Psalm)

Liturgical Colour : White

Psalm 32 : 4-5, 18-19, 20 and 22

For upright is the Lord’s word and worthy of trust is His work. The Lord loves justice and righteousness; the earth is full of His kindness.

But the Lord’s eyes are upon those who fear Him, upon those who trust in His loving-kindness to deliver them from death and preserve them from famine.

In hope we wait for the Lord for He is our help and our shield. O Lord, let Your love rest upon us, even as our hope rests in You.

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Tuesday, 22 April 2025 : Tuesday within Easter Octave (First Reading)

Liturgical Colour : White

Acts 2 : 36-41

Peter said, “Let Israel then know for sure that God has made Lord and Christ this Jesus Whom you crucified.” When they heard this, they were deeply troubled. And they asked Peter and the other Apostles, “What shall we do, brothers?”

Peter answered : “Each of you must repent and be baptised in the Name of Jesus Christ, so that your sins may be forgiven. Then you will receive the gift of the Holy Spirit. For the promise of God was made to you and your children, and to all those from afar whom our God may call.”

With many other words Peter gave the message and appealed to them saying, “Save yourselves from this crooked generation.” So those who accepted his word were baptised; some three thousand persons were added to their numbers that day.

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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, 8 April 2024 : Solemnity of the Annunciation of the Lord (Homily and Scripture Reflections)

Liturgical Colour : White

Dear brothers and sisters in Christ, today marks the Solemnity of the Annunciation of the Lord, marking the important moment when the Archangel Gabriel came from the Lord to Mary, who was to be the Mother of God, through her motherhood of the One Whom God had sent into this world to save all of us, that is His own Beloved Son, Jesus Christ, our Lord, the Son of God and the Divine Word of God. This important event marked by today’s Solemnity happened exactly nine months before Christmas, which showed that this was the moment when the Lord, Our Saviour was conceived in the womb of Mary, His Mother.

Usually this Solemnity is celebrated each year on the twenty-fifth day of March, but as that date fell on the Monday of Holy Week earlier on, and the commemorations of both the Holy Week and the Easter Octave take priority over all other Solemnities and Feasts, therefore, this celebration of the Annunciation of the Lord is postponed this year to this day, the day after the Second Sunday of Easter, the Octave Day of Easter. Nonetheless, despite this change of dates, it does not diminish the importance of the event that we commemorate, as linking to what we are celebrating this Easter, it was all made possible by the acceptance of Mary of her crucial role in being the Mother of our God and Saviour, Jesus Christ.

The Annunciation of the Lord marks the moment when Mary received the Good News from the Archangel Gabriel, proclaiming to her the long awaited coming of God’s salvation to all mankind, that He would send into this world His own beloved and begotten Son, the Divine Word of God, Who would become incarnate in the flesh, becoming the Son of Man, through the role and intercession of Mary herself. This pivotal event is truly important because by her acceptance of the role entrusted to her by God through the Archangel Gabriel, Mary had made possible what seemed to be impossible, that God Himself would come in our form and nature of humanity, incarnate in this world, showing to us the perfection of His love manifested in all of His glory and yet made approachable to us.

As we compare the attitudes of King Ahaz of Judah and Mary, the Mother of God as highlighted in our Scripture readings today, we can clearly see the difference in their attitudes and response to the revelation of God which they received through the prophet Isaiah and the Archangel Gabriel respectively. While King Ahaz of Judah refused to believe in the Lord and did not trust or have genuine faith in Him, Mary submitted humbly and despite her uncertainties, she did not doubt the Lord’s providence and plans for her. Contextually, we must also understand that King Ahaz of Judah was counted among those many kings of Judah who were not faithful to God, in the way that they did not worship the Lord faithfully and led the people into sin by allowing or even promoting the worship of pagan gods and false idols.

When the prophet Isaiah asked the king for a sign, the king said that he would not ask or put the Lord to the test. Some might consider or perceive this as an act of humility, but if we understood his background and other actions, we will quickly realise that he was being a hypocrite in his action and response to God’s instructions. Through his failure to do what he had been expected to do in his own reign as king, he had tested the Lord many times and brought great misery and sufferings on God’s people because of his disobedience and wickedness. He did not refuse to ask of the Lord of any sign or wonders because he was humble, but rather because he did not truly believe in the Lord or did not want to bother with the matters pertaining to God, or that he did not trust that the Lord would actually do as He had said He would do.

On the contrary, Mary who was then just a young maiden, a young virgin who was still really young in age, chose to trust in the Lord wholeheartedly, and while she naturally was apprehensive given the breadth and scope of the mission and the responsibilities entrusted to her, to be the Mother of the Son of God Himself, and to be pregnant, bearing a Child when she was not even married yet, while she had already been betrothed to St. Joseph, her husband-to-be, but she still ultimately trusted the Lord with the words, ‘I am the handmaid of the Lord, let it be done unto me according to Your will.’ Mary embraced the Lord, His words and promises, His will and His desire for her to do as she had been entrusted to do, and hence, through her resounding and firm ‘Yes’ to the Lord, the work of God’s salvation has been made evident in this world, showing unto all of us the perfect example of obedience and faith.

God has given us all the free will and the freedom to choose our course of action in this life we have been given. Unfortunately, our ancestors beginning with Eve chose to disobey the Lord, listening to the lies and wickedness of Satan instead, and we allowed ourselves to be swayed by worldly temptations and glory, by the allure of pride and glory which had twisted our perception of the world, our existence and relationship with God. This is why we must not allow ourselves to be swayed by these temptations, or listen to the falsehoods and the lies of the devil, who had done in his every opportunities and capabilities to try to mislead us down the path towards our downfall. Instead, we should follow the good examples and inspiration set for us by Mary and her Son, Jesus Christ, Our Lord and Saviour, Who as the New Eve and the New Adam, had undone the damage and the corruption done unto us by the original Eve and Adam.

That is why, on this great Solemnity of the Annunciation of the Lord, we remember the role that Mary, the Mother of God, Our Lord and Saviour, Jesus Christ, who has answered God’s call and mission with faithful and firm dedication, entrusting herself completely and wholly to the Lord. Her Son, Jesus Christ, Our Lord and Saviour, has also shown perfect and complete obedience to the will of His Heavenly Father, embracing His Cross, bearing willingly all the weight and burdens of our many and innumerable sins, wickedness and evils, so that through Him, His obedience and love for all of us. by dying on the Cross for us at Calvary, we may receive the hope of salvation and eternal life, liberation and freedom from the tyranny and bondage of sin, from the power of death and destruction, which He has done through His glorious and triumphant Resurrection from the dead.

Brothers and sisters in Christ, therefore, as we celebrate this day with great joy, marking the moment when the Salvation of God entered into this world and become incarnate in the womb of Mary, the Mother of God, let us all recall the salvation which Our Risen Lord has brought unto us, and which we rejoice and celebrate this season and time of Easter. Let us all follow the faith and dedication of Mary, His Mother, and strive to do the will of God at all times. May the Risen Lord be with us all, and may He guide us all in our journey of faith. May His Blessed Mother continue to pray and intercede for us, at all times. Amen.

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Monday, 8 April 2024 : Solemnity of the Annunciation of the Lord (Gospel Reading)

Liturgical Colour : White

Luke 1 : 26-38

In the sixth month, the Angel Gabriel was sent from God to a town of Galilee called Nazareth. He was sent to a young virgin, who was betrothed to a man named Joseph, of the family of David; and the virgin’s name was Mary.

The Angel came to her and said, “Rejoice, full of grace, the Lord is with you.” Mary was troubled at these words, wondering what this greeting could mean. But the Angel said, “Do not fear, Mary, for God has looked kindly on you. You shall conceive and bear a Son, and you shall call Him Jesus. He will be great, and shall rightly be called Son of the Most High. The Lord God will give Him the kingdom of David, His ancestor; He will rule over the people of Jacob forever, and His reign shall have no end.”

Then Mary said to the Angel, “How can this be, since I am a virgin?” And the Angel said to her, “The Holy Spirit will come upon you and the power of the Most High will overshadow you; therefore, the Holy Child to be born of you shall be called Son of God. Even your relative Elizabeth is expecting a son in her old age, although she was unable to have a child; and she is now in her sixth month. With God nothing is impossible.”

Then Mary said, “I am the handmaid of the Lord, let it be done to me as you have said.” And the Angel left her.