Easter season

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Friday, 3 May 2024 : Feast of St. Philip and St. James, Apostles (Gospel Reading)

Liturgical Colour : Red

John 14 : 6-14

At that time, Jesus said to His disciples, “I am the Way, the Truth and the Life; no one comes to the Father but through Me. If you know Me, you will know the Father also; indeed you know Him, and you have seen Him.”

Philip asked Him, “Lord, show us the Father, and that is enough.” Jesus said to him, “What! I have been with you so long and you still do not know Me, Philip? Whoever sees Me sees the Father; how can you say, ‘Show us the Father’? Do you not believe that I am in the Father and the Father is in Me?”

“All that I say to you, I do not say of Myself. The Father Who dwells in Me is doing His own work. Believe Me when I say that I am in the Father and the Father is in Me; at least believe it on the evidence of these works that I do. Truly, I say to you, the one who believes in Me will do the same works that I do; and he will even do greater than these, for I am going to the Father.”

“Everything you ask in My Name, I will do, so that the Father may be glorified in the Son. Indeed, anything you ask, calling upon My Name, I will do.”

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Friday, 3 May 2024 : Feast of St. Philip and St. James, Apostles (Psalm)

Liturgical Colour : Red

Psalm 18 : 2-3, 4-5

The heavens declare the glory of God; the firmament proclaims the work of His hands. Day talks it over with day; night hands on the knowledge to night.

No speech, no words, no voice is heard – but the call goes on throughout the universe, the message is felt to the ends of the earth.

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Friday, 3 May 2024 : Feast of St. Philip and St. James, Apostles (First Reading)

Liturgical Colour : Red

1 Corinthians 15 : 1-8

Let me remind you, brothers and sisters, of the Good News that I preached to you and which you received and on which you stand firm. By that Gospel you are saved, provided that you hold to it as I preached it. Otherwise, you will have believed in vain.

In the first place, I have passed on to you what I myself received that Christ died for our sins, as Scripture says; that He was buried; that He was raised on the third day, according to the Scriptures; that He appeared to Cephas and then to the Twelve. Afterwards He appeared to more than five hundred brothers and sisters together; most of them are still alive, although some have already gone to rest.

Then He appeared to James and after that to all the Apostles. And last of all, He appeared to the most despicable of them, this is to me.

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Thursday, 2 May 2024 : 5th Week of Easter, Memorial of St. Athanasius, Bishop and Doctor of the Church (Homily and Scripture Reflections)

Liturgical Colour : White

Dear brothers and sisters in Christ, today as we listened to the words of the Scriptures we are all reminded of the need for us to follow and obey the commandments of God wholeheartedly and to understand what He has taught and entrusted to us so that in all the things we say and do, we shall always be focused and centred on the Lord, full of love and commitment for Him and then at the same time, also filled with genuine love for our fellow brothers and sisters all around us. We must not allow the temptations of worldly glory and desires from misleading us down the wrong path in life, as it is by following the Lord wholeheartedly and obeying Him that we shall find the path towards God’s grace and assured of His salvation.

In our first reading today, we heard of the continuation of the story from Acts of the Apostles when the Church was being divided on the issue of whether the Christian faithful ought to obey and follow the whole suit of the entire Jewish laws, customs, rituals and practices which was the favoured position of those who converted to the Christian faith from among the Pharisees and the more hardline ones among the Jewish people, demanding the Gentiles or the non-Jewish people to adopt wholesale the entire rules and laws concerning the Jewish customs and practices. This would have made it very difficult for the non-Jewish Christian converts to live their lives and consequently would have placed great burden on all those who seek to live their lives faithfully in God’s path.

That was why St. Paul and St. Barnabas adamantly insisted that this should not be the way how the Church should proceed forward. They brought the discussion to the table to the Apostles in Jerusalem, highlighting before the whole assembly of the faithful how God has done His great works, signs and miracles among the non-Jewish people as well, showing that He has truly called on everyone to follow Him regardless of their cultural, racial and original background, and He loved everyone regardless of their differences, and thus the Church should also act in the same manner by not making it difficult for those who did not come from Jewish background or origin to follow the Lord and His path, as the way how the Pharisees practiced the Law and the commandments of God was rather excessive and unnecessary.

Therefore in this first Council of the Church, historically known as the First Council of Jerusalem, the Apostles led by St. Peter, the first Pope and Vicar of Christ decided that all the faithful people of God are not bound to the extensive and rigid application of the Jewish laws, rules, customs and rituals, and they also set the standard of what the faithful ought to believe in, a standard which continued to evolve and became more standardised later on, and yet, in its basic form and core tenet remains what we also believe today in our Christian faith. We are all reminded through these that what truly matters in our faith as Christians is for us to follow the Lord faithfully and focus ourselves thoroughly in Him, making God as the centre and focus of our lives, and not like how those Pharisees and teachers of the Law who had become so obsessed in the laws and customs they preserved, that they ended up idolising those laws and customs while forgetting the very purpose why those laws and customs were given to us in the first place.

As Christians, all of us are reminded this day that we must truly have that strong and genuine love for the Lord our God and then also have the same love for our fellow brothers and sisters, our fellow men and women. All of us must always live our lives in a manner that is worthy of the Lord so that by our every actions, words and deeds, we will always continue to proclaim the glory of God and show His love and truth to everyone whom we encounter in life. Through our faithful and worthy lives therefore we may inspire countless others who have experienced us in their lives, either through their friendship or relationship with us, or through our simple actions and words, even for those whom we do not know at all, like strangers and others in our midst.

Today, the Church celebrates the feast of a great saint and man of God whose life and contributions to the Church and the Christian faithful were truly great and remarkable. St. Athanasius was renowned for his courageous stand and defence of the true and orthodox faith against the dangerous threats of heresies and falsehoods which were rampant and common at that time, threatening not just the fate and salvation of many souls but also destroying the unity of the Church through schisms and the divisions because of all the heresies which had misled so many of the faithful into the wrong and evil paths. St. Athanasius in his role as a great Church father and leader of the Church especially as the Pope and Patriarch of Alexandria, is an inspiration for all of us to follow in how we ought to live up to our Christian faith.

St. Athanasius was born into a Christian family in Egypt during the time of Diocletianic Persecution, the last great official persecution of Christians in the Roman Empire. He grew up and matured just as the Christians throughout the Empire began to be emancipated and freed from all the many years of persecutions they were facing back then. He was well educated and eventually was prepared for clerical life by the then Bishop of Alexandria for his outstanding character and talents even early on in his youth. St. Athanasius became a great theologian and was a strong supporter of the orthodox Christian truth against the then popular and widespread heresy of Arianism popularised by the very charismatic preacher named Arius who turned many people from the true faith into heresy and who had many supporters from even among the bishops and priests of the Church, as well as among the secular rulers and nobles.

Yet, that did not dampen the spirit and courage shown by St. Athanasius, who as the Patriarch of Alexandria and as one the most influential leaders of the Church at the time became one of the champions of the true faith against all those who sought to pervert and change God’s teachings and truths for their own selfish ambitions and desires. He was one of the supporters of the true teaching of the Lord, defending the equality and the consubstantiality of the Son of God with the Father, something that the Arians refused to accept. He continued to minister faithfully to the people of God and to all the flock entrusted to his care amidst all the conflicts against the heretics, particularly with all the Arians and their supporters. He had to endure a lot of trials and challenges, and even exile at times from his See.

Yet, St. Athanasius continued to be firmly faithful and devoted himself thoroughly to his mission and calling in defending the faithful and the faith itself from being tainted by the falsehoods and heresies of his time. He wrote extensively on the many matters of the faith and his writings on the defence against the heresies of his time remained well-known and well-read to this day. St. Athanasius like those of St. Paul and St. Barnabas before him did his best to do God’s will and courageously stood up for the true Christian faith and teachings against all those who sought to change or corrupt those teachings for their own selfish desires and ambitions. Through his good examples and actions, he had brought so many people and souls closer to God’s salvation and grace, and many others to be inspired by their courage and examples.

Brothers and sisters in Christ, let us all therefore continue to proclaim the Lord’s truth and reach out to our fellow brothers and sisters, to all those who have not yet known or experienced the Lord in their lives. Let our own lives and examples, like that of St. Athanasius and the Holy Apostles, the many other saints and holy men and women of God, be the source of light and hope, inspiration and strength for others. May the Risen Lord continue to bless our every good efforts and endeavours, and may He empower us all to live ever more worthily in His Presence, now and always. Amen.

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Thursday, 2 May 2024 : 5th Week of Easter, Memorial of St. Athanasius, Bishop and Doctor of the Church (Gospel Reading)

Liturgical Colour : White

John 15 : 9-11

At that time, Jesus said to His disciples, “As the Father has loved Me, so I have loved you. Remain in My love! You will remain in My love if you keep My commandments, just as I have kept My Father’s commandments and remain in His love.

I have told you all this, that My own joy may be in you, and your joy may be complete.”

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Thursday, 2 May 2024 : 5th Week of Easter, Memorial of St. Athanasius, Bishop and Doctor of the Church (Psalm)

Liturgical Colour : White

Psalm 95 : 1-2a, 2b-3, 10

Sing to the Lord a new song, sing to the Lord, all the earth! Sing to the Lord, bless His Name.

Proclaim His salvation day after day. Recall His glory among the nations, tell all the peoples His wonderful deeds.

Say among the nations, “The Lord reigns!” He will judge the peoples with justice.

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Thursday, 2 May 2024 : 5th Week of Easter, Memorial of St. Athanasius, Bishop and Doctor of the Church (First Reading)

Liturgical Colour : White

Acts 15 : 7-21

As the discussions became heated, Peter stood up and said to them, “Brothers, you know that from the beginning God chose me among you so that non-Jews could hear the Good News from me and believe. God, Who can read hearts, put Himself on their side by giving the Holy Spirit to them just as He did to us. He made no distinction between us and them and cleansed their hearts through faith.”

“So why do you want to put God to the test? Why do you lay on the disciples a burden that neither our ancestors nor we ourselves were able to carry? We believe, indeed, that we are saved through the grace of the Lord Jesus, just as they are.”

The whole assembly kept silent as they listened to Paul and Barnabas tell of all the miraculous signs and wonders that God had done through them among the non-Jews. After they had finished, James spoke up, “Listen to me, brothers. Symeon has just explained how God first showed His care by taking a people for Himself from non-Jewish nations.”

“And the words of the prophets agree with this, for Scripture says, ‘After this I will return and rebuild the booth of David which has fallen; I will rebuild its ruins and set it up again. Then the rest of humanity will look for the Lord, and all the nations will be consecrated to My Name. So says the Lord, Who does today what He decided from the beginning.'”

“Because of this, I think that we should not make difficulties for those non-Jews who are turning to God. Let us just tell them not to eat food that is unclean from having been offered to idols; to keep themselves from prohibited marriages; and not to eat the flesh of animals that have been strangled, or any blood. For from the earliest times Moses has been taught in every place, and every Sabbath his laws are recalled.”

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Wednesday, 1 May 2024 : 5th Week of Easter, Memorial of St. Joseph the Worker (Homily and Scripture Reflections)

Liturgical Colour : White

Dear brothers and sisters in Christ, today the Church celebrates the occasion of the Feast of St. Joseph the Worker, in conjunction with the secular celebration and commemoration of the May Day or Labour Day in many countries, celebrated on the first day of May each year. On this day we remember the workers in our midst, all of us who are working, labouring and toiling each day for our livelihood in various ways, in our respective areas in life, in whatever we are doing in this world to sustain ourselves, our families and our loved ones, and we unite all these efforts and works, with the great role model for all workers, that is St. Joseph himself, the Patron of all workers and all those who work hard to make ends meet for themselves and their loved ones.

St. Joseph, the foster father of Our Lord and Saviour, as His protector and guide was also a carpenter, who was hardworking and upright in his life and works. St. Joseph was not described much in the Gospels but according to what was available and to Apostolic tradition, he was a righteous man who dedicated himself to his family, and he was honest in his dealings, as a role model for his family and for the people all around him. At that time, being a carpenter was not an easy thing to do, as this job often required a lot of physical work and effort while at the same time, carpenters were often looked down upon by many people because it was considered as a menial and hard work, deemed as a job for the uneducated and poor people.

However, arguably St. Joseph was way better and more exemplary in his life than all those so-called educated and intelligent elites of the society, such as the Pharisees and the Sadducees, who dominated the politics and the community of the people of God at the time. While the latter disobeyed and disregarded God’s Law and commandments to satisfy their own desires and worldly ambitions, resisting the works and the words of the Lord Himself, preferring to keep on their own understanding and interpretation of the Law of the Lord, St. Joseph quietly listened to the Lord and obeyed, doing whatever he had been tasked and entrusted to do, humbly and without much noise or complaining, even when he was faced with a lot of difficulties.

For example, when St. Joseph had to protect the Holy Family, the Lord and His mother Mary from the great dangers facing them immediately after He was born, he had to take care of them and bring them away from the land of Judea, and into exile in Egypt away from those who sought to kill Him, just as earlier on he had to help the heavily pregnant Mary to find a place to stay in as she was about to give birth in Bethlehem during the census. Yet, despite all these things and all the hardships that he had to bear and endure, he did all of them quietly and faithfully, entrusting everything to the Lord and doing whatever he could in fulfilling what he had been entrusted to do. St. Joseph was a man of action and in all of his actions he always made sure that God is always at the centre of them all.

This is why St. Joseph is truly a great role model for all of us, as a faithful disciple and follower of the Lord, as a righteous and upright man, as a good and hardworking person, dedicated in whatever he does, so that in all that he had done, he always did them with grace and love, in remaining humble and unassuming in all things, allowing himself to be a great role model and inspiration to everyone else, in showing us all how we can live our lives worthily of the Lord and be the inspirations for others. By his labours and hard works done with righteousness and justice, St. Joseph showed us that it is truly better for us to do what is right and just in our actions and remain worthy in the eyes of the Lord rather than to gain the glory and riches of the world and yet losing our souls to the darkness of sin and evil. That is why we should follow his good examples.

Now, let us examine our Scripture passages carefully that just as St. Joseph had shown us through his actions and works, we may also be better able to live our lives worthily in the Lord at all times. In our first reading today, we heard from the Acts of the Apostles in which the arguments that happened between the Apostles and the members of the Church who proposed the imposition of the strict Jewish laws and customs upon all the faithful were told to us. At that time, the Church was growing rapidly and many people from both the Jewish community and diaspora as well as from the non-Jewish peoples, or the Gentiles, came to believe in the Lord and followed Him. However, some of them disagreed in the manner how they should live as disciples and followers of the Lord.

Some of the disciples came from among the Jewish elites like the Pharisees and the teachers of the Law who were very particular and strict regarding the Law of God and the practices as revealed and passed down through the generations of many Israelites from the time of Moses. However, those practices would have made it rather difficult for many among the non-Jewish peoples to follow the Lord because of the cultural differences, obstacles and context of the time. But the two Apostles, St. Paul and St. Barnabas, who had ministered and proclaimed the Word of God among the Gentiles spoke up courageously and firmly against those who sought to impose false ways on the Church and the people of God. They laboured faithfully among the people in the mold of St. Joseph himself, in doing God’s good works and obeying His will, not for their own glory but for the greater glory of God.

Ultimately, they also carried out the good works of the Lord, Who had molded this world in the image that He had imagined for it. The Lord Himself was also often described as a Potter, as the Scriptures quoted Him as a Potter before, and like a carpenter such as St. Joseph, God sent out His servants into this world so that through each and every one of them might bear God’s truth and love to the world, and bring everyone ever closer towards Him. Through His countless efforts and works He made through His Apostles and disciples, and through His saints like the great St. Joseph, Holy Patron and Protector of workers, He has shaped us and our lives, and brought us all into this great Church, the great Ark through which He has gathered all of us much like what Noah had done, to bring us all out of the darkness and certainty of destruction into a new life and existence with Him.

Brothers and sisters, as we reflect upon the words of the Scriptures that we have heard today, and as we look upon the examples of St. Joseph, and also the Holy Apostles and the many other holy saints, holy men and women of God, let us all therefore be inspired by their examples and commit ourselves wholeheartedly to the Lord our God in all things. In all of our labours and works, let us always remind ourselves to do everything not for our own personal ambitions and desires, but instead seek to proclaim the truth and glory of God. We should also always be honest, righteous and good in all of our actions, words and deeds, to be exemplary in our faith at all times, following in the footsteps of St. Joseph the Worker.

May the Risen Lord continue to guide and strengthen us in all of our resolve and efforts so that we may continue to do great works for the glory of God and for the good of His people. May God be with us always, and may He empower and bless the Church, all of us, in all the things we say and do, now and always, forevermore. Holy Patron, St. Joseph the Worker, pray for us all to the Lord. Amen.

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Wednesday, 1 May 2024 : 5th Week of Easter, Memorial of St. Joseph the Worker (Gospel Reading)

Liturgical Colour : White

John 15 : 1-8

At that time, Jesus said to His disciples, “I am the True Vine and My Father is the Vinegrower. If any of My branches does not bear fruit, He breaks it off; and He prunes every branch that does bear fruit, that it may bear even more fruit.”

“You are already made clean by the word I have spoken to you. Live in Me as I live in you. The branch cannot bear fruit by itself, but has to remain part of the vine; so neither can you, if you do not remain in Me. I am the Vine and you are the branches. As long as you remain in Me and I in you, you bear much fruit; but apart from Me you can do nothing.”

“Whoever does not remain in Me is thrown away, as they do with branches, and they wither. Then they are gathered and thrown into the fire and burnt. If you remain in Me and My words in you, you may ask whatever you want, and it will be given to you. My Father is glorified when you bear much fruit : it is then that you become My disciples.”

Alternative reading (Mass of St. Joseph)

Matthew 13 : 54-58

At that time, Jesus went to His hometown and taught the people in their synagogue. They were amazed and said, “Where did He get this wisdom and these special powers? Is He not the carpenter’s Son? Is Mary not His mother and are James, Joseph, Simon and Judas not His brothers? Are not all His sisters living here? How did He get all this?” And so they took offence at Him.

Jesus said to them, “The only place where prophets are not welcome is their hometown and in their own family.” And He did not perform many miracles there because of their lack of faith.

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Wednesday, 1 May 2024 : 5th Week of Easter, Memorial of St. Joseph the Worker (Psalm)

Liturgical Colour : White

Psalm 121 : 1-2, 3-4a, 4b-5

I rejoiced with those who said to me, “Let us go to the house of the Lord!” And now we have set foot within your gates, o Jerusalem!

Jerusalem, just like a city, where everything falls into place! There the tribes go up.

The tribes of the Lord, the assembly of Israel, to give thanks to the Lord’s Name. There stand the courts of justice, the offices of the house of David.

Alternative reading (Mass of St. Joseph)

Psalm 89 : 2, 3-4, 12-13, 14 and 16

Before the mountains were formed, before You made the earth and the world, from eternity to eternity – You are God.

You turn humans back to dust, saying, “Return, o mortals!” A thousand years in Your sight are like a day that has passed, or like a watch in the night.

So make us know the shortness of our life, that we may gain wisdom of heart. How long will You be angry, o Lord? Have mercy on Your servant.

Fill us at daybreak with Your goodness, that we may be glad all our days. Let Your work be seen by Your servants and Your glorious power by their children.