Easter sermon

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Thursday, 13 April 2023 : Thursday within Easter Octave (Homily and Scripture Reflections)

Liturgical Colour : White

Dear brothers and sisters in Christ, on this day as we continue to progress through the season of Easter, all of us are reminded of God’s great grace and providence for all of His beloved people, all of us, as He showed us all the hope and light of salvation in His Son, Our Lord Jesus Christ. The Lord has shown us that He is truly Risen from the dead, and nothing can prevail against Him, not even sin, evil and death. Through what we have heard from the Sacred Scriptures, all of us are reminded that the Lord is truly Risen, and He has always been with us throughout. Through Him, His Church and His disciples, the Lord has shown His power and might, in healing us and in reaching out to us with most generous love, mercy and compassion. He has not abandoned us all to the darkness and sin, but through His love, His efforts and works, and by suffering and dying for us on the Cross, and eventually by His Resurrection, He has gathered us all into a new life blessed by God.

In our first reading today, we heard the brave and courageous Apostles St. Peter and St. John speaking to the people of God assembled who witnessed the works of the Lord in healing the crippled beggar sitting by the Temple of Jerusalem’s Beautiful Gate, as they saw how he was miraculously healed and made whole. St. Peter spoke courageously and preached about the Risen Lord Jesus, in Whose Name he has invoked healing and miracle to make the crippled man whole again. And despite the stern and strict ban against the teaching or preaching or even the mention of the Name of Jesus by the chief priests and the members of the powerful Jewish High Council, the two Apostles were fearless in their courageous proclaiming of the truth that God has brought amidst His people, in showing His power and miracles before all the assembled people, telling them that everything had been done by the same Saviour that they had just condemned to death merely moments earlier.

The Apostle also called on the people to repent from their sinful ways, and to embrace the forgiveness and mercy which God generously granted us all through His Son, the same Saviour Who had suffered and died on the Cross, and then rose in glory on Easter Sunday, the One Whom St. Peter and St. John was proclaiming about, and in Whose Name, the crippled man had been healed. All of us are reminded that our Saviour lives, and because He lives, and has risen from the dead, then we too shall overcome sin and death together with Him. We are reminded then this Easter that we are all called to a new life and existence in God, one that is free from sin and evil, and one that is truly dedicated and filled with joy of being one with God. All of us as Christians are God’s own beloved people, whom God had called and chosen from among the nations, and we have responded to that call with faith.

As we heard in our Gospel passage today, we are reminded again of the truth about our Lord’s Resurrection, as we heard how the Risen Lord appeared to His disciples gathered in Jerusalem. He appeared to them just after He appeared to the two disciples who were journeying to the village of Emmaus, and who did not recognise Him at first until He revealed Himself to them and unveiled their eyes, allowing them to see the truth about Him. The Risen Lord appeared to all the disciples, proving to them that whatever they have heard from the two disciples and from the holy women who went to His tomb earlier that Sunday were indeed true and not fabricated news. He came to reassure them that everything which He had told them, about Him having to suffer and to be persecuted, and dying for the sake of all, then to rise again from the dead, are all indeed true.

He asked them for something to eat, and He ate the piece of broiled fish which they offered Him, which indicated to all of them that He was indeed Risen before them, appearing to them in all of His Risen glory in the flesh, and not just a Ghost or Spirit. This is because ghosts and spirits would not have been able to consume or partake any food, or do anything that He had done. The Lord showed His disciples that He was indeed with them, and never left them even though those disciples had earlier on abandoned and left Him during the time of His Passion, out of fear and doubt in their hearts. And having seen and witnessed all these, and touched the Risen Lord, all of the disciples hence were empowered and strengthened, together with the Holy Spirit that had been sent to them on Pentecost, that they went forth in great joy and with great courage to proclaim the salvation of the world in Jesus Christ, the Saviour of the world, Who has Risen from the dead in glory.

Brothers and sisters in Christ, now, as we heard all of these words from the Scriptures, all of us are then reminded that as Christians, each and every one of us share the same mission from the Lord, for us to proclaim the Risen Lord in our various communities and in our places, in whatever we are doing and in our every interactions with each other, with people who have not yet known the Lord or His truth. Much like St. Peter and St. John who courageously proclaimed the Risen Lord before the assembled people despite the ban enforced by the Sanhedrin against them and the Lord’s teachings, all of us as Christians are also called to be the faithful disciples and missionaries of our Christian faith in our respective communities, in our schools, workplaces, among our friends and families, our relatives and even to the strangers and acquaintances we encounter each day in our lives.

Let us all therefore do whatever we can to live our lives worthily of the Risen Lord, so that in whatever we say and do, we will always glorify God and proclaim His truth, and that we may be true and genuine beacons of His light, hope and truth amidst our darkened world, filled with sin and wickedness. Not only that we should do this to all those who have not yet known the Lord, but we should do this even to our fellow Christian brothers and sisters, who have perhaps lapsed in their faith and become lukewarm in how they live their faith lives. Let us all encourage them and inspire them to renew their faith so that together with us, our faith may burn brightly with sincere love and zeal for the Risen Lord, as we commit ourselves, our time, our actions, efforts and good works and more for the greater glory of God. All of us are called to follow the Lord with conviction and commitment, as those who have been entrusted by Him with the mission to proclaim His truth and resurrection among the nations.

May the Risen Lord, Our Lord and Saviour, Jesus Christ, continue to be with us and help us in our journey of faith, so that we may continue to be strong and courageous in our ministry in the Church, in whatever it is that we have been called into, in our perseverance in living our faith with zeal and in loving one another with genuine love and compassion. Let us all be the shining beacons of the Resurrected Christ and His Light, that many more people may come to believe in Him and His salvation through us and our exemplary living. May the Risen Lord bless us always, and may He bless our Easter season and celebrations, bless our loved ones always. Amen.

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Wednesday, 12 April 2023 : Wednesday within Easter Octave (Homily and Scripture Reflections)

Liturgical Colour : White

Dear brothers and sisters in Christ, this Wednesday we continue to progress through the Easter Octave and the Easter season, as we still continue to mark our Easter joy, a great joy for our Lord’s Resurrection and triumph against sin, evil and death. We are reminded that the Risen Lord has shown us the love of God, the healing and the mercy shown to us, as He reached out to us, embracing us and loving all of us ever so tenderly and wonderfully. God has sent His disciples and followers into the world to proclaim His Resurrection, the salvation, Hope and Light that He has promised to all of us. God has not abandoned us into the darkness, but He has reminded us again and again of His ever loving presence and kindness. That is what we are rejoicing for this Easter season, a great joy that celebrates the love and kindness of Our Lord and Saviour, Who has saved us from certain destruction and death, and bringing unto us the assurance of eternal life and glory with Him.

That is what we have heard in our first reading today, taken from the Acts of the Apostles. We heard how St. Peter and St. John came by the Beautiful Gate of the Temple of Jerusalem, and healed the paralysed man who had been waiting and begged at that gate. The two Apostles told the beggar that they had nothing to offer him, but gave him the gift of salvation and healing through Jesus Christ, healing him in His Holy Name. That was how the beggar was healed and giving praise to God, that surprised and awed many people who remembered the beggar and were amazed at how he was healed. The chief priests and the members of the Jewish High Council had been strict in their enforcement of the ban and the opposition against the works of the Lord and His disciples, persecuting all those who have proclaimed His Name or did anything in His Name, or preached and spoke in His Name, teaching about all that He had done or by being associated in any way with Him.

Yet, all those things could not stop the Apostles who carried out doing their good works in His Name, preaching His truth, proclaiming everything that Jesus Christ, the Saviour of the world had done. They would not be silenced by the efforts of those who still continued to stubbornly resist the works of the Lord, His truth and mercy. The Holy Spirit that they had received guided them and strengthened them, led them to do the wonders just as we have heard and witnessed. The Apostles shared the joy they had in seeing and knowing about the Resurrection, and all that God had done for us, to the world, to all the people who have gathered all around them, all willing and curious to know more about the Lord and His salvation. This is what they had themselves seen and witnessed, as they heard of the Risen Lord from the two disciples that came back from the way to Emmaus, having encountered the Lord Himself on their way towards that village.

Not only that, but as we heard from our Gospel passage today, we listened to how the disciples witnessed on their own how the Risen Lord appeared before their very own eyes, as He appeared fully in the flesh before them, all in His Risen glory, truly alive and truly living. The Risen Lord has appeared before them, proving to them that He has indeed Risen from the dead and overcame death itself, and not even death can hold Him. He fulfilled everything that He has promised to His disciples, that He would come back after He suffered, was persecuted and condemned to death, and that He would be with them forever. No one can indeed separate us from the love of God, and He has shown us this Himself through His own beloved Son, Who has come into this world, to lead us by His own hands, and to help and guide us in our journey towards our most loving Father and Creator, our God and Saviour. Through His Resurrection, the Lord has opened the path for us to full and complete reconciliation with God.

Having witnessed all of those themselves, and encouraged and strengthened by the Holy Spirit, it was what drove the disciples to go forth and to proclaim proudly and openly the Risen Saviour, the One Whom the chief priests and the elders had tried to silence and to keep from being known by the people. They proclaimed the Risen Lord, revealing His truth and many believed in Him, giving themselves to be baptised and becoming members of the Church. The Lord has spread His truth and teachings through His Apostles and disciples, that were then passed down through His Church, as the community of the faithful continued to grow and spread, expanding the reach of the Church and the works that they had done. Through them, and through the generations, all of us have received the same truth, the truth about the Lord and His love for us, and all that He had done for us, and His glorious Resurrection.

Brothers and sisters in Christ, having received this truth of God, and having believed in Him, all of us as Christians, as members of God’s Church are called to be part of His Church’s mission, in reaching out to the nations, to all the peoples all around us, to everyone we interact with and encounter in our daily living, that we may proclaim His truth and salvation to everyone we encounter, through our every words, actions and deeds, which are exemplary and full of faith in the Lord. If we are not genuine in how we live our Christian faith, then how can we convince others to believe in God? Worse still, if our actions, our words and interactions are in fact contrary to what we believe in, and we cause others and even our own fellow brothers and sisters to lose faith in the Lord, this is indeed scandal for the Church, for our faith and for the Lord’s Holy Name. As Christians, we have indeed a rather heavy responsibility to lead others towards the Lord, and the best is through our own good examples in life.

Now, as we continue to progress through this Easter season, are we able to commit ourselves anew to the Lord, dedicating ourselves, our time, effort, attention and more to glorify the Lord by our lives? Can we follow in the footsteps of the Apostles and the other disciples of the Lord, who had given their time, effort and even their lives in the service of God? All of us have been given the time, the opportunity and the chance to do what we can in proclaiming the Lord by our own faithful lives, and we should indeed use this time and opportunity to do what we can in proclaiming the Lord and His truth, His Resurrection and everything that He has revealed and taught to us, so that more and more can be saved and can find their way to God and His saving grace. Let us no longer be ignorant of what we should and what we can do in living our lives faithfully as Christians, as members of His Church.

May the Risen Lord continue to guide and inspire us in our daily living, so that we may find our way and have the courage and strength to proclaim His Gospels and Good News by our exemplary lives and actions. May God be with us always and may He continue to bless us all in our every efforts, good works and endeavours. May God continue to empower and encourage us all to serve Him ever more faithfully each day of our lives. Wishing all of us a most blessed Easter season ahead. Amen.

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Tuesday, 11 April 2023 : Tuesday within Easter Octave (Homily and Scripture Reflections)

Liturgical Colour : White

Dear brothers and sisters in Christ, today as we continue to progress through this blessed and most joyful Easter Octave, a period of great rejoicing and thanksgiving for God’s great love and kindness for us, let us all turn towards the Lord and renew our hope in Him, remembering how He has come into our midst precisely so that He might redeem us all sinners, and reconcile us all to our most loving Father and Creator. The Resurrection of Our Lord Jesus Christ proved to us that death is not the ultimate end of all things, and that our fate is not to be one of death and destruction, but rather that of eternal life and a new existence in grace and love together with God. Death has come to us because of our disobedience and sins against God, but Christ, by His willing and most generous embracing of our weakened and unworthy selves, have opened for us the path out of the darkness and sins.

In our first reading today, as the continuation from the Acts of the Apostles, we heard how many of the assembled people in Jerusalem asked St. Peter and the other disciples about whatever they had done, and the wicked deeds which they had committed in rejecting their Lord, Master and Saviour, by condemning Him to death on the Cross. But St. Peter reiterated again how Christ has come into this world in order to gather all those who have been lost to Him, to be our most loving Shepherd and Guide so that all of us may find our path to the salvation in the Lord, our most loving, compassionate and merciful God. St. Peter reassured all of them that through Christ and by their repentance, in rejecting the sins and wickedness that they had committed, they would be reconciled and reunited with God, and God would grant them His Holy Spirit to strengthen and guide them all to Himself.

In our Gospel passage today, we then heard of how Mary Magdalene, one of the first of the women to go to the tomb of the Lord Jesus on Easter Sunday morning, only to find the tomb to be empty, lamented the disappearance of the Lord’s Body, and thought that His Body must have been stolen by someone. The Angel of God appeared to her and the other women, reassuring them all that the Lord has risen from the dead and was no longer in His tomb. Then the Lord Himself appeared to Mary Magdalene, and revealed Himself to her, how He has truly risen from the dead. It is all these revelations and truth which the Lord has revealed to His disciples and followers, through His other appearances throughout the period between His Resurrection and Ascension into Heaven, witnessed by many of His followers, which reassured and strengthened them in their faith in God.

Brothers and sisters in Christ, as Christians, which means that we believe in Christ, His truth, His words and wisdom, and in His Resurrection, and that He is truly the Son of God and the Saviour of all, all of us have received the same revelation and truth as that of the other disciples of the Lord. We have received all these truths and wisdom through the Church, and through the many teachers and ministers of our faith. God has shown Himself and His truth to us, calling us all to Himself and entrusting to us the same mission that He has given to His Apostles and disciples, that is to proclaim His Good News, the Good News about His coming and His works of salvation amongst us, and His Resurrection by which He has overcome sin and death, and won for us a great victory in the struggle against the forces of evil, leading us all into a new path towards eternal life.

All of us are called and reminded to be truly committed to the Lord as we continue living our lives daily as Christians. And throughout this Easter season, all of us should use the time and opportunity to share the joy of Easter we have with each other, and with more and more people that we encounter each day. We are all reminded that in Christ we have received the sure guarantee of eternal life and salvation, and as long as we remain firmly attached to Him and as long as we continue to hold firm to His path and believe in His truth, we shall receive the fullness of God’s grace and love. We are truly the Easter people and Alleluia is our song, just as Pope St. John Paul II once said it. But we cannot be an Easter people without the right attitude, that in our lives we have to radiate the light of Christ, the joy and desire to serve and glorify the Lord through all of our actions and works.

Brothers and sisters in Christ, let us all therefore spend some time in this Easter season to live our lives more worthily as Christians, dedicating our time and efforts to walk ever more righteously in the path that the Lord has set before us. This is a time for us to remind ourselves what it means to be Christians. Each one of us should live our lives with ever greater commitment to proclaim the Risen Lord in our every actions and lives. We should truly embody our faith in our every works and efforts, so that we may inspire everyone who witness our actions and interact with us in any capacity, that we will inspire more and more to come ever closer to the Lord and to find their path towards Him. That is why this Easter is the best opportunity and time for us as we go forth from all of our Easter joy, to go and proclaim joyfully the Lord’s Resurrection to the nations.

But we cannot truly proclaim the Risen Lord unless we are truly wholehearted and committed to Him in all things, and we have to be truly converted in our hearts and minds. This is why we have to do whatever we can to do God’s will in our lives, even in the smallest things we do. Unless we do this, then we are not being truly obedient and truthful in our following of the Lord, in our Christian duty and obligations, and in carrying out our missions as those who follow the Lord and obey His commandments. We have to be good examples to our fellow brethren, and we have to commit ourselves to our missions as Christians, which God has entrusted to us, in our various capacities and using the talents, abilities, gifts and opportunities that He has granted us. This Easter we are all reminded that we all need to go forth with joy to the world, and be evangelising, missionary disciples.

Brothers and sisters in Christ, let us all hence go forth joyfully and share our faith with everyone we encounter, in a respectful and loving way. Let us all show our joy this Easter and be truly filled with Easter joy, reminding ourselves that Easter is truly a greater celebration than Christmas. If we have shown our joy in Christmas, then our joy this period and time should be doubled and even more. But let our joy always be focused on Christ, Our Lord and Saviour, and let our attention always be centred on the Risen Christ, on the glory of His Resurrection and everything that He has done for us, for our salvation and redemption. May God bless us always and may the grace of the Risen Christ be with us all. Amen.

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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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Sunday, 9 April 2023 : Easter Sunday of the Resurrection of the Lord (Homily and Scripture Reflections)

Liturgical Colour : White

Dear brothers and sisters in Christ, Alleluia! Christ has risen from the dead, Alleluia! He has been triumphant over sin and death, Alleluia! We have finally arrived at the Easter season after the forty days and six Sundays of the season of Lent, during which time we have prepared ourselves physically, mentally and spiritually, striving to be closer to God and to change our way of life, distancing ourselves from sin and from wicked things that can keep us separated and distanced from the Lord, our God. This Easter is a reminder for all of us of the coming of spring, the advent of a new hope and light for our lives, as Christ our Risen Lord has led us out from the depths of the darkness of evil, sin and death, into the new life and existence blessed and graced by God and His love. By the Lord’s death and resurrection, we share with Him this passage from death into life, from darkness into light, and from despair into hope. That is what each and every one of us have shared through our common baptism.

In our Easter Vigil and Easter Sunday liturgical celebrations, we commonly celebrate baptisms as we welcome many of our fellow brothers and sisters who have journeyed for some time in their search for their Lord and Saviour, as they come, just like us, in finding our hope and light, our salvation in Jesus Christ, the Saviour of the whole world. The Risen Christ has shown us that there is hope beyond darkness and sin, there are way out of the wickedness of this world. While once we have been cast out in the darkness and suffering because of our disobedience and failure to obey the will of God, we have not been left alone, as the Lord truly loves each and every one of us, though we are sinners, and He has always patiently reached out to us, loving us and caring for us, desiring to be reconciled and reunited with us. It was never His desire to punish us or to cast us out into the darkness, but it is by our own conscious and deliberate choice that we have rejected God’s generous love and resisted His constant efforts to reach out to us. But the Lord did not stop trying, and He did all He could so that we can truly regain our state of grace and be reconciled fully with Him.

That is why, He has sent us all His own most beloved Son, incarnate in the flesh, the Son of God and Divine Word of God, Incarnate as the Son of Man. He did all these so that by sharing in our humanity, Christ, the Son of God, Our Lord and Saviour, may come to lead us by His own hands, manifesting perfectly the love of God, to His Father’s loving Presence, reuniting us and acting as the Bridge that leads us mankind back to our loving God and Creator, crossing over the once unbridgeable and unpassable chasm existing between us and God. Our disobedience, wickedness and evil deeds led to sin, and sin became the barrier and obstacle separating and sundering us from the fullness of God’s love and grace. But Christ, as the Son of Man, showed us all what it truly means for us to be faithful and obedient to the will of His heavenly Father, showing us just how much He loved His Father and how willing He was to fully obey His will, that He willingly endured all the sufferings, pain, humiliations, rejections and hardships, bearing His Cross and all the burdens and punishments for our sins, so that we may be saved through Him. By His obedience, Christ has broken us free from the results of the disobedience of Adam, our ancestor, and the disobedience of our forefathers.

Today as we listened from our Scripture passages, each one of us are reminded of everything that the Lord has done for us, in sending us His Son, to bring us up from the depth of our sins, raising us up with Him, that through His glorious Resurrection all of us have the new hope that pierces through the darkness of despair all around us, and He has called us all to be His own people, gathering us and finding us from this world. For He is our Good Shepherd, Who went out all His way to reach out to us, His lost sheep, and having found us, He called us all to follow Him, just as the disciples had done. In our first reading today, we heard of how the disciples went forth out to proclaim the Lord’s Resurrection, and we heard how St. Peter led them all in proclaiming the truth about Jesus Christ, about how the One Whom the people had rejected, humiliated and persecuted, and condemned to die like a criminal on the Cross, was the One Whom God had actually sent into their midst to be their Saviour. St. Peter spoke of this courageously despite the fear that he and the other disciples once had of the Jews and their leaders.

Back then, the High Priest and the other chief priests, as well as the other members of the Sanhedrin, the Jewish High Council had declared the Lord Jesus as a Criminal and as a rogue, banning His teachings and works to be spread and published, and for that reason, the disciples of the Lord had been in hiding ever since the Lord rose and then ascended into Heaven, and hence, they were hiding for a while, fearful of the repression and the opposition of the Jewish people and their elders. This happened until the coming of the Holy Spirit, on the day and moment of the Pentecost Sunday, when the Lord sent His Holy Spirit to dwell among His disciples and followers, strengthening them and giving them the courage, Wisdom and strength to carry out whatever it was that He had tasked and entrusted them to do. That was what drove the Apostles, led by St. Peter, to go forth and proclaim the truth about the Lord, everything He had done, His Resurrection and His calling on all of the people to follow the path of the Lord.

Now, as we heard these from our Scripture passages, together with the account of the Lord’s resurrection in our Gospel passage this Easter Sunday, we are all reminded that as the witnesses of the Lord’s Resurrection and glorious triumph over sin, evil and death, all of us are called and have been entrusted with the same mission that the Apostles had been entrusted with by the Lord. All of us have received the same truth and revelation through the Church, and through our teachers of faith, the bishops and priests, that we have also become partakers in the same mystery of the Lord’s Resurrection, and also His Most Holy and Precious Body and Blood, the Eucharist. Since all of us truly believe in these, the very core tenets of our Christian faith, it is therefore important that we have to profess our faith well in our way of life and in our every actions and deeds.

The Church has been entrusted with the mission to proclaim the truth of Christ, His Resurrection and all that He had done, and God’s love for all of us, and we are all missionaries and messengers of God’s truth to the world. If we do not live our lives in the manner that Christians should have done, and if we have not been sincere in our faith and dedication to God, and worse still, if we do things that are in fact contrary to what the Lord had taught us to do, all these will bring about scandal to our faith, to the Church and to the Lord’s Holy Name. How can we convince others to believe in the Lord if we ourselves have not shown true and genuine faith in Him, and if we have continued living our lives in wickedness and evil? That is why, just as we enter into this glorious and most joyful season of Easter, each and every one of us as Christians are reminded to be faithful to the Lord, and we are to believe in Him wholeheartedly in all things.

It means that in everything we say and do, in our every actions and interactions, all of us should truly practice and show our Christian faith and beliefs, in all of our deeds and works. That is what we all should do as Christians, and as those who truly believe in the Lord’s Resurrection and truth, let us all begin from this Easter Sunday henceforth, if we have not yet done so, to be joyful and dedicated disciples of the Lord, proclaiming His Resurrection and glory with great joy and zeal. And let us also remember that this time of Easter, all of our celebrations and joy do not end on this day. Instead, this Sunday is just the beginning of the Easter season, that lasts for a whole period of fifty days right up to the Pentecost Sunday. In fact, it does not mean that our Easter joy and works should end there either, as we are all called to proclaim the Lord henceforth and beyond, in every moments of our lives.

Therefore, brothers and sisters in Christ, if our faith in the Lord is still not strong yet, and if we are still filled with fear and doubt, like how the two disciples who were journeying to Emmaus from our Gospel passage for this Easter Sunday evening Mass showed us, then we should let our Risen Lord to come into our midst and to encourage and strengthen us all with the courage and faith, so that each and every one of us may be filled with the conviction and the desire to glorify God by our lives, and to proclaim His truth to all the whole world. Let us all be inflamed and strengthened by the Word and Wisdom of God, just as how the Lord Himself had strengthened those two disciples journeying towards Emmaus, so that like them rushing back towards Jerusalem with great joy, to tell the other disciples of what they had experienced and witnessed, we may also exhibit the same strength and spirit to proclaim the Lord and His truth.

Let us ask the Lord to strengthen us with the grace of His Wisdom and the power of His Holy Spirit, so that all of us who have placed ourselves in the trust of the Risen Lord, may continue to shine forth as the bright beacons of His light, proclaiming His love and truth to our fellow brothers and sisters, so that each and every one of us may indeed become most faithful disciples and followers of Our Lord, in all things. May our actions, words and deeds, our interactions and works be exemplary and be inspirational to each other, and to all those who witness them, so that we may truly be good and worthy missionaries of our faith, and that many more will come to believe in the Lord through us. Let us all renew the promises that we have made at our own baptism, be it recent or long time ago, that we will resolutely reject and resist the temptations of evil, Satan and the worldly desires, and strive to do what the Lord has asked us to do. Let us remember that our baptism is not the end of our journey of faith, but instead was just the beginning of a new journey of our lives, a journey blessed by God.

May the Lord, our Risen Christ, risen gloriously from the dead continue to inspire and strengthen us. May He bless us and strengthen us so that we may always be committed and ready to live our lives wholeheartedly, dedicated to Him and to proclaim His Resurrection, His truth and love to all those whom we encounter daily in life. May all of us continue to live with faith and with the joy of the Risen Christ in each and every moments of our lives. May God bless us all and may His light shine upon us, illuminating our path forward in life. Wishing all of us a most blessed Easter season, and may the Risen Christ be with us and our loved ones always. Alleluia! Amen!

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Sunday, 9 April 2023 : Easter Vigil Mass, Easter Sunday of the Resurrection of the Lord (Homily and Scripture Reflections)

Liturgical Colour : White

Dear brothers and sisters in Christ, Alleluia!Christ is Risen from the dead, Alleluia! Tonight all of us rejoice most wonderfully as we finally arrive on this most holy, wonderful and solemn Easter Vigil, also known as the Mother of All Holy Vigils, the greatest time and moment in the whole entire liturgical year. That is because on this night we rejoice most greatly at the glorious Resurrection of Our Lord Jesus Christ, the Saviour of the whole world. Throughout this Easter Triduum period, the culmination of the Holy Week, we have been focusing on the Lord and all of His actions, His Passion, suffering and death on the Cross, and then the peak of everything, which is tonight’s celebration, is the Resurrection that Jesus Christ our Lord went through, as He rose gloriously from the land of the dead, rising in glory from hell, breaking free the chains of the dead, and all who have sinned against God, releasing their bondage to sin and death, freeing them just as how He has once liberated His people Israel from the tyranny and enslavement by the Egyptians and their Pharaoh.

Today, in our Scripture readings, especially those from the Old Testament detailed for us the history of God’s work and salvation for us, from the very beginning right up to the coming of His salvation in Jesus Christ, Our Risen Lord. We are reminded of God’s ever-present love for each and every one of us, and how fortunate all of us to have been beloved such by God, and how He gave us all the ultimate gift of Love, manifested perfectly in His own Son, Who has been incarnate in the flesh, to dwell amongst us and to be with us, so that God’s love may become tangible, real and approachable, and that we all may know, how it is in Him alone that we shall have the hope and assurance of eternal life, true joy and glory with Him. We have once been lost from Him, separated and sundered from God’s grace and love, but God wanted us all to be reconciled to Him, reunited with Him completely and no longer be lost from Him, and that is what Christ’s triumphant glory and Resurrection has achieved for us.

Let us all begin from the first reading today taken from the Book of Genesis. In that reading, we heard about the story of the Creation of the world, how God made all things and all the whole Universe to come to existence, at the very beginning of time. It highlighted to us and reminded us that God has always been ever present and eternal, with Jesus Christ Himself, Our Lord and Saviour, as the Son, the Eternal Word of God, having existed with the Father and the Holy Spirit, a perfect Union of Love, of God in His Most Holy Trinity, with no lack or need for anything. And yet, God wanted to share His love with us, and He made all creation to be, by His own will and through the Word He uttered, to make all things to be as what He imagined them to be, everything as we have heard it from the passage of the Book of Genesis, culminating in the creation of Man, made and formed in God’s own image. Everything was made all good and perfect, without any defect yet.

God made us all in His own image, and gave dominion unto us to rule over all the other created things and beings, and to be His stewards and caretakers over all of creation. That is what God has always intended for us, to enjoy the fullness of His love and grace, and to exist with Him in perfect love, harmony and joy, in the place that He has prepared for us, this whole world and all of its wonders. We were never meant to suffer or to endure hardships, struggles and the harshness of this world, but in our own folly and inability to resist the many temptations of sin, we have chosen to disobey God and to listen to the falsehoods and lies of Satan, allowing his wicked words to tempt us and to turn us away from the path of God’s righteousness. That was how we ended up in the path of sin, cast out from Eden and separated from God’s love. But God’s love for us was so great that, He did not want to see us destroyed by our sins.

Sin has no place before God, Who is all good and perfect. Sin is defilement and wickedness that is abhorrent to God, and those who sin are thus separated from God, because no one can stand before God with sin and survives. And hence, God wants to free us from that bondage and dominion by sin, and in order to do so, He has given us help and guidance, calling on us to turn away from our wicked way of life and calling on us to follow Him. And through what we have heard in our second reading today, we are reminded of what God Himself had done for us in order to achieve that goal, of saving us and liberating each one of us from the tyranny of sin. In what we heard of Abraham and his attempted sacrifice of his son, Isaac, we actually heard the premonition and prefigurement of what the Lord Himself would do for us all, out of the love and commitment He has towards us.

Abraham was a man that the Lord made a Covenant with, calling him from the land of his ancestors in Ur of the Chaldeans. God called Abraham to follow wherever He would tell him to go to, and Abraham obeyed the Lord, leaving his ancestral lands behind and following the Lord wholeheartedly. God made a Covenant with Abraham, promising him that he would have a son to succeed him, and that he would become the father of many nations. That son eventually was born in the person of Isaac, the promised child born of Sarah, Abraham’s wife. That long promised and awaited son must have brought such great joy to Abraham, who have not had any son or child at all. Yet, as we heard, God called on Abraham to offer his son Isaac as a sacrifice, the same Isaac whom Abraham had been awaiting for, and must have loved so much. Yet, Abraham obeyed God and did as the Lord had told him to do, bringing Isaac to Mount Moriah to be sacrificed.

Now, brothers and sisters in Christ, there is deeper theological and symbolic representations in what we have heard of that story of the sacrifice of Isaac at Mount Moriah, and how it is connected to what we have been commemorating in this Easter Triduum and Holy Week period. That is because Mount Moriah is located exactly at where Jerusalem would be standing in the future, from Abraham’s point of time, and Mount Moriah itself was identified by Biblical and other historical scholars as the site of Calvary, the very place where the Crucifixion of Our Lord happened on Good Friday. Thus, just as Abraham gave Isaac, his most beloved son willingly to be sacrificed and offered to God, God Himself had done the same with us, in willingly giving us His own beloved Son, Jesus Christ, to be the offering and sacrifice, slaughtered on the Altar of the Cross, at Calvary, where Mount Moriah was at, the same place as Isaac’s supposed sacrifice.

But the difference was that, Isaac was not actually sacrificed, as God was just testing Abraham and his faith and commitment to His Covenant. Having seen the pure and genuine nature of Abraham’s faith, how he committed himself so thoroughly to the Covenant and to God, that he was willing to part even with his most prized possession, his own most beloved and long awaited promised son, thus, God sent a ram in place of Isaac to be sacrificed instead. This in itself was also symbolic, as God sent us His own Son to be offered as a sacrifice, to take our place and to bear the burden of our many sins, that even though it should have been us who faced the consequences of our sins and wickedness, but God extended His great love and mercy towards us, giving us the way out of the darkness and into the light of His salvation. He bore all the heavy burdens of our sins, all of which were His wounds and pain, so that by His suffering and death, His ultimate loving sacrifice, He might save us all.

In our third reading from the Book of Exodus, we then heard of how the Lord delivered His people Israel from the slavery in Egypt and how He delivered them from the hands of their enemies, the Egyptians and their chariots and armies. The Lord made the very sea itself to part before them, allowing them to walk on the dry seabed, guided and protected by His guidance, and He threw all of the chariots and armies of the Egyptians and their Pharaoh into the sea, crushing them under the rushing waves and water. As the Israelites passed through that great journey through the sea, they passed from their past slavery to a new life of freedom and liberation from whatever that had bonded and dominated them. God brought them by His own hands to freedom, and ransomed them, so that they might no longer be under the yoke of the Egyptians, entering into a new life and existence with God.

Therefore, in the same way, God has also led us all through the waters of baptism, as He brought us into a new life that is free from sin and from our enslavement by those sins. Just like the Israelites who were under the bondage and dominion of the Egyptians, all of us have also come under the bondage and dominion of sin, that is until the Lord came to us and delivered us from our enslavement to sin, by His Passion, His suffering and death on the Cross, and ultimately by His Resurrection from the dead. That is what we have been commemorating through this whole Holy Week and particularly the Easter Triduum, as tonight we focus our attention on the Triumphant Christ, Risen from the dead and Victorious over sin and death. Not even death can hold Him and hell has no power against Him, and through His Resurrection, the Lord showed us all that through Him, there is hope of this new and eternal life, a new existence through Him and with Him.

Tonight is when many people all around the world are received into the Church, through the Sacrament of Baptism, as they are made anew and becoming partakers and members of God’s kingdom on earth, the One, Holy, Catholic and Apostolic Church. Thus, just as the Israelites ended their lives in slavery and left behind their past existence through the waters of the Red Sea, thus, our fellow brothers and sisters, our newly baptised Christian brethren, all have been led to a new life and existence in God, abandoning their past sinful existence and way of life. They are no longer subject to the dominion of sin, and like us all, have become part of the same Body of Christ, the Church of God. The Lord has called on all of us to follow Him, and these brothers and sisters have followed in our examples and leads, to seek and follow the Lord in each of their own ways.

The rest of the Scripture readings reaffirm further God’s love for His people, for all of us, and they all spoke of God’s providence and the coming of His salvation and grace. All of these, which God had promised from the very beginning of time, had finally come to its fruition and completion with the glorious Resurrection of the Lord. The Lord’s Resurrection proved that there is life and existence beyond death, and that He has conquered death itself, by breaking the hold that sin has over us. As our Eternal High Priest, He has offered on our behalf, the most worthy offering and sacrifice, the offering of His own Most Precious Body and Blood, shed and broken on the Altar of the Cross. The payment and ransom for our sins and unworthiness have been received, and God had reestablished with us the connection that was once lost because of exactly those same sins and wickedness that we had committed.

Brothers and sisters in Christ, this night, as we rejoice greatly at the wonderful things that the Lord had done for us, and for all the love that He has shown us, and as we glorify Him for His most wondrous Resurrection, let us all remind ourselves that Easter is not just celebrated tonight or tomorrow on Easter Sunday only. In fact, we often forget that the Easter season lasts for a whole period of fifty days up to Pentecost Sunday. However, in fact, our Easter spirit and energies should be continuing even beyond that. All of us as Christians have been called by God to be His disciples and followers, to proclaim His truth and Good News to all the people, all around the world. That is our calling and our ministry as Christians, in whatever way the Lord had entrusted us with various gifts, talents, abilities and opportunities through which we can affect and influence many people throughout our various communities and places.

That is why, as we recall our Scripture readings today and what we have just discussed earlier, let us all spend the time tonight and then beyond to renew our commitment to the Lord, to dedicate ourselves and our time and effort, with a greater fervour and zeal, to serve the Lord more wholeheartedly and to follow Him with more vigour and effort. The Lord has not hold back from us even His own most beloved Son, Who willingly suffered and died for us, enduring the worst humiliations and beatings for us, so that by His death we may also die to our past sinful lives, and by His Resurrection, we may share in the new life and existence that He is leading us into. That is why, as we enter into this new glorious season of Easter, let us all remind each other of what it truly means for us to be Christians, to be a people called and sanctified by God, made to be His own sons and daughters.

Let us all therefore strive to live a life that is more worthy of the Lord, resisting the many temptations, pressures and coercions around us to conform to the world and its wicked ways. Let us instead be the shining beacons of God’s Light so that as we remember of the promises we made at our own baptism, we may truly live our lives as faithful and devout Christians, and that our every actions, words and deeds may inspire one another in faith, and touch the lives of countless others, who may come to know and experience the Lord, His love and truth, by their interactions with us. Let us all no longer be idle and no longer be ignorant of our Christian calling, remembering that all of us have been called to be holy, to be filled with the love and zeal for the Lord. Let us be good role models and inspirations to one another so that our Easter joy may truly inspire more joy and light in everyone.

May the Lord, our Risen Christ, risen gloriously from the dead continue to inspire and strengthen us. May He bless us and strengthen us so that we may always be committed and ready to live our lives wholeheartedly, dedicated to Him and to proclaim His Resurrection, His truth and love to all those whom we encounter daily in life. May all of us continue to live with faith and with the joy of the Risen Christ in each and every moments of our lives. May God bless us all and may His light shine upon us, illuminating our path forward in life. Wishing all of us a most blessed Easter season, and may the Risen Christ be with us and our loved ones always. Alleluia! Amen!

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Sunday, 5 June 2022 : Solemnity of Pentecost Sunday (Homily and Scripture Reflections)

Liturgical Colour : Red

Dear brothers and sisters in Christ, this Sunday is the Solemnity of Pentecost Sunday marking the fiftieth and the last day of the entire glorious and joyous season of Easter. The celebration of the Pentecost had its roots in the Jewish custom, in which fifty days after the celebration of the Jewish Passover, the Festival of the Pentecost is celebrated, and hence, a lot of people were assembled in Jerusalem for that occasion, coming from different countries, likely both the Jewish people and diaspora who lived in those places as well as some others who were attracted to the celebrations that were happening in Jerusalem.

In our first reading today from the Acts of the Apostles we heard the account of how on the Festival of the Pentecost, fifty days after Our Lord’s glorious Resurrection, the Holy Spirit came down upon all the disciples who were assembled and in hiding from the Jewish authorities, Mary, the Twelve Apostles and the other disciples who were there in the same room and place. The Holy Spirit came down like tongues of fire, resting on each of the disciples and gave them all the strength, courage and power to proclaim the Lord and His truth to all the people they encountered, beginning with those who came to Jerusalem for the festival of Pentecost.

This is a fulfilment of what the Lord has always promised His followers, that He would send them the Holy Spirit, the Helper and Advocate Who would strengthen them and give them the courage and power to do the will of God and to carry on what He had entrusted to them to do in this world. When He ascended into Heaven, the Lord promised that the Holy Spirit would come and help His disciples, and that they ought to wait in Jerusalem and pray. True enough then, that about ten days after the Lord ascended into Heaven, on the Pentecost celebrations, the Holy Spirit came down on the disciples.

Pentecost Sunday does not only mark the fiftieth day of Easter and the final day of that joyous season. It is also according to tradition, the ‘birthday of the Church’ as it was on that day that the Church became tangible, visible and apparent to the world. Before that moment, the disciples were all hiding in fear but afterwards, they courageously went forth and proclaimed the Word of God to the masses without fear anymore. That was the moment when the Church began its mission of evangelisation, reaching out to the world, to more and more people so that more may come to know the Lord and be saved through finding out the truth.

Pentecost is the day when the Church of God began its ministry to the world, when the Body of Christ, that is the Church, became visible to all and began calling on all to turn towards the Lord and to believe in Him as their Lord and Saviour. This is all possible because of the wisdom and strength bestowed on the Apostles through the Holy Spirit. Before that, the disciples were all lacking confidence and the drive to do the mission they have been entrusted with, and many among them were also illiterate and uneducated, hence explaining even more why they were hesitant to make themselves shown prior to the Pentecost.

The Holy Spirit gave them all the gifts of wisdom and knowledge, of faith and hope, of strength and courage, allowing them to do everything that we now know as the amazing things that the Apostles and the saints had done, only some of which were recorded in the Acts of the Apostles and the rest of the New Testament. Through the Holy Spirit, the Lord guided His faithful disciples who embarked on the journey of faith to proclaim His truth to the nations, to the many people they visited and lived with, and they spoke of the Lord and His love openly and without fear, guided by the strength, wisdom and passion that came from the Holy Spirit inflaming their hearts and minds.

They all went to proclaim the truth of the Lord, revealing the generous love which God has shown us, and they lived according to the Lord’s commandments of love, as mentioned in our Gospel passage today. They loved the Lord most wholeheartedly and at the same time, they also showed the same love towards their fellow brothers and sisters, to all man equally and without discrimination, be it Jews, Greeks, Romans, Persians or any other people. They loved them all as fellow children of God, and it was this love, together with the wisdom that God has shown them through the Holy Spirit, which made the Christian faith so popular among the people, and many decided to believe in God.

Now, brothers and sisters in Christ, we must realise that the works of the Church and the Lord have not yet been completed but instead are still ongoing this very moment. There are still a lot of areas and opportunities for the Church and the faithful to reach out to those who have not yet known the Lord and to all those who have lapsed in their faith. There are still many parts of the world and many communities who have lived in ignorance of the Lord’s truth, and it is we as Christians who have the responsibility and calling to bear the truth of God, His love and hope, His compassion and mercy, His path and light to those who have not yet known Him.

We are all called as Christians to continue the great and wonderful works that our predecessors, the Apostles, the innumerable saints and martyrs, and many others who had faithfully obeyed the Lord’s commandments and laws, following His will and doing His good works in this world. Through baptism all of us have become part of the Church and received the Holy Spirit, the same Spirit that the Apostles and disciples of the Lord had received. And many of us have also received the Sacrament of Confirmation, in which after period of preparation and prayer, we have been affirmed in faith and received a more complete gift of the Holy Spirit.

What are these gifts of the Holy Spirit, brothers and sisters in Christ? The Church teaches us that there are seven gifts of the Holy Spirits. Those gifts are the gifts of Wisdom, Understanding, Counsel, Fortitude, Knowledge, Piety and Fear of the Lord. Each of these gifts are related to the seven Virtues of our Christian faith, namely Charity or Love, Faith, Prudence, Courage, Hope, Justice and Temperance. All these gifts have been given to us, to strengthen us and to help us in how we live our lives, so that each and every one of us can become great role models and inspirations for one another, to encourage and help each other on our way to the Lord and His salvation.

Through Wisdom and Understanding we have all been given the clarity and ability to appreciate the depth of the truth of God, the knowledge of God’s love and His laws, His commandments and ways, understanding the ways of the Church and its practices, and how to explain it to others, and to discern carefully the path that we are to choose in life. While through Counsel and Fortitude, we are brought to the ability to resist the temptations to sin, the ability to consider carefully what each of our actions will lead us to, and how to stand up for things that are right, in defending our faith and the actions that are just against the wickedness of this world, against the temptations to sin.

The gift of Knowledge, Piety and Fear of the Lord then allows us to know more about God and to get ourselves closer to Him, allowing us to love Him ever deeper and more, desiring to be ever closer to Him, and by knowing more of the great infinity and boundlessness of God’s Almighty power and majesty, we may grow to fear Him more, not because we are afraid of Him, but because we know well what it means for us to reject and abandon Him and His path, falling into the depth of sin and eventually hell, out of which there is no escape and no hope of salvation. Hence, we will strive to get ever closer to God and avoid doing things that are against God and His will.

Brothers and sisters in Christ, we have received those wonderful gifts from God through the Holy Spirit, as well as other abilities, talents and opportunities that are distinct for each and every one of us. However, if we do not open our hearts and minds, and embracing those gifts and talents, opportunities and all presented to us by the Lord, then all those gifts would have been naught and useless for us. We have to embrace the Lord and His gifts for us, the Holy Spirit and all of His blessings and do our best to make use of them for the purpose that He has revealed to us. Otherwise, we are not doing what the Lord has commanded us to do, to be the disciples that go forth to the world, to proclaim His truth before all mankind and calling them all to His presence.

Today, this Pentecost Sunday, as we celebrate this joyous celebration of the Descent of the Holy Spirit upon the Church of God, and the birthday and beginning of the Church, let us all discern carefully our respective calling in life. Are we all doing what we can in answering God’s call, His call for us to make good use of the talents, gifts, abilities and opportunities that He had provided to us? Each one of us as Christians have been given different sets of skills, talents, gifts and blessings, and have various vocations and calling in life. Are we willing to do what we can, within our means and within the capacity that God has provided us, to do His will and to live our lives virtuously and faithfully as good and devoted Christians?

Let us all hence commit ourselves anew to the Lord this day, and remind ourselves that Pentecost is not there to mark the end of the season of Easter. On the contrary, on this day we celebrate the Descent of the Holy Spirit, we remind ourselves that the Church’s primary mission is to evangelise and spread the Word of God, His truth and love to the whole world, and the best way for us to do this, is by living our lives virtuously as exemplary and good Christians, as otherwise how can we expect others to believe in us if we ourselves do not act and live our lives in the manner that we tell others to live theirs?

May the Lord continue to bless us and guide us, and may each and every one of us continue to walk faithfully in God’s path at all times. May the Holy Spirit continue to guide us and strengthen us, now and always. Come Holy Spirit, fill the hearts of all Christians who are faithful and committed to God, and enkindle in the fire of Your love. Come Holy Spirit, and renew the face of this Earth, purge hatred and evil from this world, and allow us Christians to strive to love one another and advance the cause of peace and harmony between all the children of God. Come Holy Spirit, and be with us always, now and forevermore. Amen.

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Saturday, 4 June 2022 : Vigil Mass of the Solemnity of Pentecost Sunday (Homily and Scripture Reflections)

Liturgical Colour : Red

Dear brothers and sisters in Christ, this Sunday we celebrate the Solemnity of Pentecost Sunday beginning with the celebration of this Vigil Mass of the Pentecost. On this Solemnity of Pentecost Sunday we celebrate the coming and descent of the Holy Spirit upon the disciples of the Lord, fifty days after the Lord’s glorious Resurrection and ten days after His Ascension into Heaven. That is why we call this celebration as the Pentecost, as Pentecost itself has the meaning of ‘fifty’, a celebration that has roots in the Jewish law and traditions, of the Pentecost festival fifty days after the Passover which was why there were a lot of people assembled in Jerusalem at the time when the Holy Spirit came down on the Apostles.

And as we listened to the readings from the Scripture, one of the first readings from the Book of Exodus related the moment the first Covenant God made with the people of Israel at Mount Sinai, the mountain of God after they have left Egypt behind and was freed from their slavery. According to tradition, this happened about fifty days after the time of the Exodus, which the Passover commemorated every year, the moment the Israelites were saved from their slavery and passed from Egypt safely through the Red Sea, while the forces and armies of the Egyptians were crushed and destroyed by the raging waves as they tried to pursue the Israelites.

The Passover itself has been made complete and renewed with the true Passover made by Christ Himself, that He, as the Lamb of God, offered Himself for our sake so that by His death, on the Cross, and the outpouring of His Blood, that brought salvation to all of us, while by passing through the waters of baptism, made holy and sanctified by His power and grace, like the Israelites of old passing through the Red Sea, all of us as Christians have passed through death to our old way of life, washed and cleansed away, freed from the slavery to our sins and evils, and beginning the journey towards our ‘Promised Land’, which is Heaven, to be with God forevermore.

Hence, based on what I mentioned earlier, we can see a very clear parallel and link between the old and new Passover, the death and Resurrection of Christ our Lord with the freedom of the Israelites from the Egyptians, and this is exactly how all of us who believe in the Lord and has been baptised, received into the Church, pass through the domains of sin and death, freed from their dominion and through Christ, enter this journey of a new life in which we are all called to a new existence, just as the newly freed Israelites were journeying towards the Promised Land of Canaan. The Lord made a New Covenant with us through His Son, just as He had made a Covenant with the Israelites back then. This time, it is not just the Israelites that were His chosen people, but all of mankind, those willing to answer and embrace His call.

Now, back to the moment the Covenant was made with the Israelites at Mount Sinai, there were also parallel between what happened there and what happened at the Pentecost when the Holy Spirit came down on the disciples of the Lord. At the time of the old Covenant, God gave His Law to His people through Moses, written as the Ten Commandments carved on two slabs of stone, and also other laws unwritten but passed through God’s wisdom to Moses, and from Him to the people of God. At the New Covenant, at Pentecost, God gave His faithful ones, the wisdom to understand His Law which He has revealed and brought into our midst through His Son, Jesus Christ, Who Himself is the embodiment of the Law.

The Holy Spirit came down upon the disciples just as the Lord had promised to them, to be their strength and guidance, to inspire them and to grant them the wisdom and understanding to proclaim His truth and salvation to the whole world. God’s works of saving His people, all of mankind began at that moment, as the Apostles and disciples were previously very afraid to leave their dwelling place, always constantly in hiding after the Lord’s Passion and death, as the Jewish authorities were strictly forbidding anyone from teaching and preaching in the Name of Jesus, openly opposing and persecuting those who were doing so.

But as the Holy Spirit came into them, the disciples gained great courage, strength and wisdom, and all of them went forth out from their hiding place, proclaiming Christ to all the assembled people in Jerusalem, who could all understand what they said even though they came from various places. That was the gift of tongues and language that the Holy Spirit granted to the disciples, a symbolic reversal of what happened if we read the story of the Tower of Babel in the Book of Genesis, where in yet another one of our possible first readings today, last time used to be all read for the Pentecost, mankind who used to speak the same language were punished and confused in their language and speech because of their pride, disobedience and sins, in trying to upstage God by building the Tower of Babel pointing towards Heaven itself.

Through what we have heard, God is calling all of us sinners back to Himself, wanting each and every one of us to be reconciled to Him. He loves us very dearly and does not want any one of us to be lost to Him. Our disobedience has led us to sin, and sin sundered us from God, separating us from His grace and love. But through His Son, Our Lord and Saviour, and by the power of the Holy Spirit, all of us have been called back from among the nations, all the lost sheep of the Lord gathered back into the same one flock of Christ, our Good Shepherd. Through baptism, we have entered this New Covenant that He had made and sealed with His own Precious Blood on the Cross.

At Pentecost, three thousand people were convinced and received baptism from the disciples, which is interestingly a comparison and contrast to what happened back then at Mount Sinai. As we all should know, the Israelites rebelled against God and disobeyed Him there when they built and raised up a golden calf idol that they treated and worshipped as god over them, and this led the whole people into sin, where according to the later part of the Book of Exodus, three thousand people sided with the idol and were crushed and killed when Moses pronounced the judgment of God against them. The three thousand people saved at Pentecost was a clear reversal of what happened at Mount Sinai.

Brothers and sisters in Christ, this Pentecost Sunday is also often known as the ‘birthday of the Church’ and it is rightly so because the Church of God is the physical gathering and assembly of the people of God, of all the faithful who have shared in the gift of baptism, to be that One Body of Christ. As Scripture says, we have all been made one body, one spirit, in Christ. That is what the Church is, and as the disciples went forth from hiding to begin in earnest their work of evangelisation, converting the three thousand people and possibly more, that established the very first tangible community of the faithful people of God, the visible Church. Hence, that is why this Pentecost is considered as the birthday of the Church.

Now, having discussed in detail what Pentecost is about, and how it is closely linked to the past events in the history of salvation, let us all then discern what we are to do ourselves going forward from now on. Just as the Israelites did not reach the Promised Land immediately after God made His Covenant with them at Mount Sinai, and how they had to endure a lot of challenges, punishments and hardships along the way, thus as I mentioned earlier, that this Covenant that God made with us all as Christians mark only the beginning of our journey of faith towards Him, towards our hopefully final destination that is Heaven.

That is why we must never think of our baptism as the end of our journey. On the contrary, it is the beginning of our new life with God, beginning a new existence and life in Him, inspired and guided by the Holy Spirit, that each and every one of us enter into this journey that we are all expected to walk through in our journey and path towards God, and each one of us as Christians are called to live our lives in accordance to the way that God had taught us and expected us to live them. If we do not do so, then we are hypocrites and even in the worse case, we may even scandalise our faith and the Lord just as how some among the faithful had acted wickedly not in accordance to what Christians ought to act and believe in.

Brothers and sisters in Christ, as we commemorate this great rejoicing at this Pentecost Sunday, let us remind ourselves at all times that even though it marks the end of the season of Easter, but it does not mean that the spirit of Easter ends here. On the contrary, as I mentioned earlier, we must remember that our Christian living is a journey towards God, and the struggles and challenges have not yet ended. In fact, as we continue to progress in faith and through this journey of life we may realise that we will encounter more and more challenges and trials along the way, and we may have to persevere through those difficult moments and trials.

But yet, we are not alone, brothers and sisters! The Holy Spirit is with us, as our Advocate and Helper. And just as the Holy Spirit was with the Apostles and disciples of the Lord back then, guiding them, inspiring and strengthening them, the Holy Spirit is also now with us, bestowing on us the gifts that are meant to help us. However, we have to open our hearts and minds, and allow the Holy Spirit to guide us in our path, as we can easily be tempted or shaken by fear that we lose our trust in God and the guidance of the Holy Spirit. Let us hence ask the Lord to continue to strengthen us and may the Holy Spirit continue to guide us in our journey towards the Lord and eternal life that we shall enjoy with Him forevermore. May all of us always ever be righteous and strive to do our best to walk in the path of God, now and always. Amen.

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Saturday, 4 June 2022 : 7th Week of Easter (Homily and Scripture Reflections)

Liturgical Colour : White

Dear brothers and sisters in Christ, today we almost come to the end and conclusion of the season of Easter, with tomorrow being the Solemnity of Pentecost Sunday, the last day of the fifty glorious days of Easter. Today we are therefore reminded that the works of the Lord and His Apostles are far from being completed, and in fact they are still being done and continuing even to this day, and even beyond to the future. The mission that the Lord has entrusted to each and every one of us still continues through us, the same mission that God told His disciples, to go forth to all the peoples of all the nations, and baptise them in the Name of the Father, the Son and the Holy Spirit.

The Lord has called us all to follow Him, to do the same as His disciples had done all those years ago, just as we heard from our first reading today, from the Acts of the Apostles, of St. Paul the Apostle who went to Rome and continued his ministry even as he was waiting for his appeal to the Roman Emperor for his case. He was free to go anywhere and in that way, he ministered to the faithful Christians in Rome, and the Jewish people as well as the Gentiles there who were interested to know more about the Lord Jesus and His teachings and truth. St. Paul continued to work there until he was martyred during the Great Fire of Rome and the intense persecution of Christians after that.

In our Gospel passage today, we heard of the Lord speaking to His disciples after He had risen from the dead and just before He was about to ascend into Heaven in glory. He spoke to them regarding what was to come and what they ought to expect. The disciples asked about St. John, the disciple who was closest to the Lord, and He mentioned that St. John would not die or perish before the end of times, when the Lord comes again. This can be understood in many different ways, but most common opinion is that St. John would see the end comes as he received it in a vision as he related them to us through the Book of Revelations. Alternatively, some believe that St. John, the only Apostle not to die a martyr, was just sleeping and still waiting for the coming of the Lord.

Nonetheless, whatever the case is, the sufferings of the Apostles and the many other disciples and holy people of God highlighted to us that the work of the Church and the ministry that we all share in various different ways in our world today, are far from over. On the other hand, the challenges awaiting the Church and the faithful in the present day are just as hard and difficult for the faithful to endure and overcome. Often times in our world today, we have to struggle and face rejection, hardships and obstacles as we walk down this path that the Lord has set before us, as we follow the guidance of Our Lord and Shepherd.

But those should not then become excuses for us not to follow the Lord faithfully as we must remember how our predecessors have suffered for their faith, and yet they faced those sufferings with great courage and faith. They carried on their crosses in life, and dedicated their time and efforts to walk in the path shown by them through the Holy Spirit. They showed how even if one were to suffer and were persecuted and challenged in their faith, they could not be shaken and they could remain firm in faith even if they had to go through worst of treatments, and they also inspired one another to remain committed and trusting in God as well.

Now, brothers and sisters in Christ, the responsibility is ours to continue the good works that our predecessors had done, and there are indeed still a lot to be done. There are still a lot out there who have not yet been touched by the light and hope of Christ, and many have yet to hear the Good News of His salvation. It is up to us to continue the good works that the Apostles had begun and which their many successors throughout the generations had continued, the Popes, bishops, priests and many others, all those who committed themselves to the spreading of the message of the Gospels, the salvation of God to all mankind.

As I mentioned earlier, we have to stay firm in our faith in the Lord and trust in His guidance and providence. The saints and martyrs, many of our holy predecessors were inspired and strengthened by the Holy Spirit, that came onto them from God, giving them the power and courage, the ability and desire to commit themselves to the Lord in ever greater way. They might have been ordinary people, but they allowed God to lead them and guide them, and giving them the strength to do even things that man might have considered impossible. That was how they endured through even the hardest challenges and persecutions.

Brothers and sisters in Christ, let us all therefore commit ourselves to a new life inspired and strengthened by the Holy Spirit, and as we commemorate Pentecost tomorrow, let us all ask for the Holy Spirit to continue to guide us and our path, and give us the courage to step forward and commit ourselves for the benefit and good of all, in obeying the laws and commandments of God, and in being truly faithful and worthy sons and daughters of God, all of us who call ourselves as Christians, who through our common baptism share in the same mission to evangelise the whole world. May God bless us and be with us always, with our every work. Amen.

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Friday, 3 June 2022 : 7th Week of Easter, Memorial of St. Charles Lwanga and Companions, Martyrs (Homily and Scripture Reflections)

Liturgical Colour : Red

Dear brothers and sisters in Christ, today we listened to the words of God, reminding each and every one of us yet again that becoming Christians and walking faithfully in the presence of God is something that is not easily done and which likely will end up bringing us hardships and challenges, just as we have been constantly reminded especially in the past few days through the Scripture readings of this week. Following Christ often required us to make sacrifices and to experience those hardships and trials mentioned, just as our predecessors, and the saints and martyrs can easily attest.

In our first reading today, taken from the Acts of the Apostles, we heard of the conversation between King Agrippa of Judea and that of Festus, the new Roman governor in charge of the case surrounding St. Paul. If we had been following the Scripture readings from the earlier part of this week, all these happened due to the opposition that the Apostle faced due to his work and ministry, in proclaiming the Christian truths and evangelising to many people, Gentiles and Jews alike that earned him the ire of many among the Sanhedrin or the Jewish High Council, which then persecuted him and handed him over to the Romans to be judged for the accusations they levied on him.

This was pretty much just like what the Lord Jesus Himself experienced earlier on, but St. Paul was following the guidance and lead of the Holy Spirit, Who told him that he was destined to travel to Rome and to die there, in martyrdom just like the other Apostles and many other disciples. However, this would not happen before he brought the word of God, His truth and love to the people in Rome, the capital of the Roman Empire, planting the seeds of the faith there, at the very heart of the Empire and superpower of that time, which would soon become the greatest persecutor of Christianity.

In our Gospel passage today, we heard of the calling that God gave to St. Peter, His foremost and chief disciple, as He called on him after His resurrection to be the one to lead the people of God and to shepherd His entire flock, as the leader of the Church on His behalf, His Vicar on earth. St. Peter has been appointed to be the leader of the Church, as the first Pope because of the faith that he had shown and all the commitment that he would later on do for the sake of the Church, as the Lord Himself knew that St. Peter would become His most faithful servant, and he truly loved Him from his heart, and God knew all that is in man’s hearts and minds.

Hence, St. Peter dedicated himself and his life to love and serve the Lord, to feed the flock of the sheep of the Lord, to fulfil what the Lord had entrusted to him and the other leaders of the Church, the Apostles and those whom they had chosen to be their successors, the Popes and bishops. St. Peter himself would also eventually go to Rome, and according to tradition, he and the other Christians were persecuted by the intense persecutions under the Roman Emperor Nero, at whose rule and command, the Apostle St. Paul as mentioned earlier eventually faced martyrdom by beheading.

Apostolic tradition states that St. Peter fled Rome with some of the other faithful because of the intense persecutions, and on the way out of Rome, he saw the Lord carrying His Cross in the opposite direction, towards Rome, which led to St. Peter asking Him where He was going. The Lord replied to St. Peter that He was going to Rome to be crucified again. That encounter according to Apostolic tradition gave St. Peter the courage and strength to endure the bitter persecutions that he had to endure in Rome, and was eventually martyred by crucifixion, and he chose to be crucified upside-down as in his own words, St. Peter said that, he was unworthy to die in the same way as his Lord, Master and Saviour. Thus, everything happened just as the Lord predicted it for St. Peter as we heard in our Gospel today.

Today we also mark the Feast of the Holy Martyrs of Uganda, also known as the Ugandan Martyrs, St. Charles Lwanga and his many companions in martyrdom in Uganda, where they who were persecuted, arrested, tortured and killed for their faith in Uganda, during the early years of Christian mission in that area. There were missionaries and local converts amongst the martyrs, all those who have given themselves for the service of God, and all those who remained faithful to the Lord despite the persecutions and sufferings they encountered. They faced intense challenges just to live their lives faithfully as Christians.

At that time, Christian missionaries just arrived in Uganda, over the several years in which they ministered to the locals. Many among the locals welcomed the missionaries and many chose to become Christians, including that of St. Charles Lwanga, who was an important official in the court of the king of Buganda, the largest local kingdom. The king saw the increasing conversion to Christianity among his people as a threat to his own power and influence, and began to persecute Christianity throughout his realm. But this did not stop the Christian faithful from continuing to endure the persecutions and remaining faithful to God.

All these became worse when the converts among the royal pages and courtiers refused to obey the king’s debaucherous desires and shunned his wicked actions. The king ordered all Christians in his court and also foreign missionaries to be rounded up and put to death, and the locals if they would not abandon their faith. St. Charles Lwanga and his companions in martyrdom refused to abandon their faith, and in prison, he even managed to convert some more people, before being martyred by being burnt alive after refusing again to abandon the Christian faith. And not only that, but through martyrdom, they had shown many others what true faith in God is like.

Brothers and sisters in Christ, today as we listened to these courageous and great examples of faith despite persecution and hardships, all of us are reminded to be strong and faithful ourselves, to steel our resolve to be good and dedicated Christians at all times. We should not let the challenges and hardships we encountered and will face in the future from changing this faith and commitment we have in God. Let us all look upon the examples of the Apostles, the saints and martyrs like the Holy Martyrs of Uganda, St. Charles Lwanga and his companions. Holy Martyrs of Uganda, courageous servants of God and beloved disciples of Our Lord and Saviour, pray for us! Amen.