Election of Pope Benedict XVI

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Saturday, 23 April 2016 : Fourth Week of Easter, Memorial of St. George, Martyr and St. Adalbert, Bishop and Martyr (Gospel Reading)

Liturgical Colour : White or Red (Martyrs)

John 14 : 7-14

At that time, Jesus spoke to His disciples at the Last Supper, “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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Saturday, 23 April 2016 : Fourth Week of Easter, Memorial of St. George, Martyr and St. Adalbert, Bishop and Martyr (Psalm)

Liturgical Colour : White or Red (Martyrs)

Psalm 97 : 1, 2-3ab, 3cd-4

Sing to the Lord a new song, for He has done wonders; His right hand, His holy arm, has won victory for Him.

The Lord has shown His salvation, revealing His justice to the nations. He has not forgotten His love nor His faithfulness to Israel.

The farthest ends of the earth all have seen God’s saving power. All you lands, make a joyful noise to the Lord, break into song and sing praise.

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Saturday, 23 April 2016 : Fourth Week of Easter, Memorial of St. George, Martyr and St. Adalbert, Bishop and Martyr (First Reading)

Liturgical Colour : White or Red (Martyrs)

Acts 13 : 44-52

The following Sabbath almost the entire city gathered to listen to Paul, who spoke a fairly long time about the Lord. But the presence of such a crowd made the Jews jealous. So they began to oppose with insults whatever Paul said.

Then Paul and Barnabas spoke out firmly, saying, “It was necessary that God’s word be first proclaimed to you, but since you now reject it and judge yourselves to be unworthy of eternal life, we turn to non-Jewish people. For thus we were commanded by the Lord : I have set you as a light to the pagan nations, so that you may bring My salvation to the ends of the earth.”

Those who were not Jews rejoiced when they heard this and praised the message of the Lord, and all those destined for everlasting life believed in it. Thus the Word spread throughout the whole region.

Some of the Jews, however, incited God-fearing women of the upper class and the leading men of the city, as well, and stirred up an intense persecution against Paul and Barnabas. Finally they had them expelled from their region. The Apostles shook the dust from their feet in protest against this people and went to Iconium, leaving the disciples filled with joy and Holy Spirit.

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Friday, 22 April 2016 : Fourth Week of Easter (Homily and Scripture Reflections)

Liturgical Colour : White

Dear brothers and sisters in Christ, on this day we are given the reassurance from God, that He will bring about our salvation, and that He will keep His promise, and bring us from the darkness of this world into the everlasting light of the heavenly glory. And if we are to remain faithful to Him, then surely we will receive all the goods of the heavenly inheritance promised to us.

And yet, many of us have a problem in this matter. Why is this so, brethren in Christ? That is because many of us behave like Thomas, one of the Twelve Apostles of our Lord, who was also known for his doubts and his lack of strong faith. If we read through the Holy Gospels, we would realise just how often it was that Thomas doubted about the Lord Jesus, even though he continued to follow Him regardless.

On one occasion, he criticised Jesus, for wanting to go back to Judea for the case of Lazarus, who died, and whom we know to be resurrected back into life by Jesus. Thomas cynically remarked that as he and the other disciples followed Jesus, they were following Him into trouble and into death, and that they ought to die together with Him.

In another occasion, after Jesus had risen from the dead, we should have known how Thomas doubted that the Lord Jesus had risen from the dead and conquered death Himself. And he even blatantly stated that he refused to believe until he saw the Lord Himself and touched the holy wounds with his own hands. And that was what Jesus exactly did, chiding Thomas for his unbelief and lack of faith.

And today we heard another time when Thomas doubted Jesus again, at the Last Supper, when Jesus reassured His disciples that even though they were going to encounter significant difficulties in the days ahead, He would not leave them behind, and that their path forward was clear. The remark of Thomas, as well as his behaviour, either in the passage from the Gospel today or from the other occasions, is a classic example of how mankind tend to often doubt about God’s love for them.

Let us ask ourselves, brothers and sisters in Christ, how many times in our own respective lives, that we have doubted about God, and doubted that He was here with us? How often was it that we doubted that God walked with us, especially when we encountered difficulties and challenges in life? And how many people indeed had abandoned God because they thought that God either had abandoned them or was not at their side?

This is the challenge which God had often warned us about. The devil, Satan and all of his fellow fallen angels would not stay silent or passive while we are attaining our salvation and redemption from the darkness into the light. He and his fellow fallen angels would prowl about seeking the harm for our souls, by trying to pull us out of the path towards God and His salvation.

And there had been many occasions throughout history, when given enough pressure, temptation and threats, suffering and persecution, men were even willing to abandon God for the other pursuits and temptations. And this is what we must resist and avoid. Each and every one of us should remain faithful to our God no matter what.

Therefore, in this season of Easter, let us make the very best of our effort in order to keep one another worthy of the Lord, rejecting all sorts of wickedness and temptations of the evil one, and cast out the darkness from our lives, and endeavour instead and aim for the light of our God. Let us help one another to live our lives faithfully in God, and may God help us in this endeavour. May God keep us in His love, and may we draw ever closer to His saving grace. God bless us all. Amen.

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Friday, 22 April 2016 : Fourth Week of Easter (Gospel Reading)

Liturgical Colour : White

John 14 : 1-6

At that time, Jesus said to His disciples at the Last Supper, “Do not be troubled! Trust in God and trust in Me! In My Father’s house there are many rooms; otherwise, I would not have told you that I go to prepare a place for you. After I have gone and prepared a place for you, I shall come again and take you to Me, so that where I am, you also may be. Yet you know the way where I am going.”

Thomas said to Him, “Lord, we do not know where You are going; how can we know the way?” Jesus said, “I am the Way, the Truth and the Life; no one comes to the Father but through Me.”

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Friday, 22 April 2016 : Fourth Week of Easter (Psalm)

Liturgical Colour : White

Psalm 2 : 6-7, 8-9, 10-11

Behold the King I have installed, in Zion, upon My holy hill! I will proclaim the decree of the Lord. He said to Me : “You are My Son. This day I have begotten You.”

Ask of Me and I will give You the nations for Your inheritance, the ends of the earth for Your possession. You shall rule them with iron sceptre and shatter them as a potter’s vase.

Now therefore, learn wisdom, o kings; be warned, o rulers of the earth. Serve the Lord with fear and fall at His feet; lest He be angry and you perish when His anher suddenly flares. Blessed are all who take refuge in Him!

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Friday, 22 April 2016 : Fourth Week of Easter (First Reading)

Liturgical Colour : White

Acts 13 : 26-33

Paul said to the Jews of Antioch in Pisidia, “Brothers, children and descendants of Abraham, and you also who fear God, it is to you that this message of salvation has been sent. It is a fact that the inhabitants of Jerusalem and their leaders did not recognise Jesus.”

“Yet in condemning Him, they fulfilled the words of the prophets that are read every Sabbath but not understood. Even though they found no charge against Him that deserved death, they asked Pilate to have Him executed. And after they had carried out all that had been written concerning Him, they took Him down from the cross and laid Him in a tomb.”

“But God raised Him from the dead, and for many days thereafter He showed Himself to those who had come up with Him from Galilee to Jerusalem. They have now become His witnesses before the people. We ourselves announce to you this Good News : All that God promised our ancestors, He has fulfilled for us, their descendants, by raising Jesus, according to what is written in the second psalm : You are My Son, today I have begotten You.”

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Thursday, 21 April 2016 : Fourth Week of Easter, Memorial of St. Anselm, Bishop and Doctor of the Church (Homily and Scripture Reflections)

Liturgical Colour : White

Dear brothers and sisters in Christ, on this day we heard about the works of St. Paul and the other Apostles, who went to many places during the early days of the Church, spreading the Good News of God’s salvation and teaching them about Jesus, our Lord and Saviour. And by their ceaseless and tireless works, they have brought many people to believe in God and thus worthy to receive salvation.

Brothers and sisters in Christ, today we gather together to remember the commitment which the Apostles had shown to the people of God, by their efforts and their attempts in bringing the people of God closer to Him. They laboured and toiled, suffered and endured persecutions, just so that many of us will be able to find hope in Him, and receive glory and redemption in His Name.

Jesus spoke in the Gospel today, about how those who accepted the messenger, also accepted the master. And therefore, those who welcomed the Apostles and listened to their preachings and teachings have all received the Lord Himself and have welcomed Him as well into their hearts. For the words and the teachings of the Apostles are just the same as what the Lord Himself had taught them and passed on to them.

And yet unfortunately, we should realise how not everyone is willing to accept what the Lord had brought upon us. Many even rejected His message and preferred to follow the ways of the world. And by what we knew of the history of our Church and the faith, we should know how many of the faithful servants of God had suffered under the hands of those who rejected Him and also those who spurned His love.

Even those whom God had chosen had also risen up against Him. From the time of Judas Iscariot, to all the heretics that had risen up against the true teachings of the faith, there had been many who betrayed the Lord and brought much harm and dissension to the Church. And this brought us to the reality, that God had called not the great and the perfect, but instead, He called the imperfect ones, and grant to them the power and the opportunity to bring themselves closer to perfection.

What does this mean, brethren? It means that all of us have the choice that we can make freely, whether we want to follow the Lord and His path, obey His laws and commandments, or instead, we can choose to ignore Him, and walk in the paths contrary to the will of God. We have been given this opportunity to choose, and the impetus is now therefore on us, and for us to make a conscious choice about our actions and how these will impact us as a whole.

Brethren, let us all today reflect on the examples of St. Anselm, the saint whose feast we are celebrating today. St. Anselm was a faithful servant of the Lord, who was the Archbishop of Canterbury during the high Middle Ages era. St. Anselm was at the forefront of the conflict that arose between the Church and the secular authority under the rule of the king.

At that time, the Church and the king were in contention on the matters of authority, power and influence, with neither sides willing to give way to the other party. Thus, this conflict brought about much difficulties, sufferings and miseries to many people who were torn by the conflict between the Church and the king’s secular authority.

St. Anselm defended the Church’s stance that their authority came from God alone, and that the Church is not subjected to the will of the king. The king and his advisors certainly had a different opinion. They conflicted in various areas, and many obstacles faced St. Anselm during his years of service and leadership of the flock which had been entrusted to him.

The king and his advisors, and even his successor as king made life difficult for St. Anselm and those who worked with him, and St. Anselm was even exiled two times for his opposition to the designs and the inappropriate actions of the king and his advisors. But St. Anselm never gave up, and through fervent prayers and committed life to God, he persevered and continued the good works which many of his predecessors had started.

St. Anselm was not an amazing person, nor was he perfect. Instead, God called him from his lowliness, from his humility and simple origins, and made him to be the great tool through which He made a real difference in the lives of all those whom He had touched through the hands and the works of St. Anselm. Certainly, there are many things which we can be inspired by the works of this holy man and servant of God.

Let us all renew our commitments today, and from now on, let us all recommit ourselves to the Lord, and give our very best in order to bring the word of God to those who have yet to hear of it. Let us all commit ourselves to the works which help many others to draw closer to the source of salvation, the salvation in our Lord Jesus Christ. May God help us and strengthen our faith, and may He keep us always in His embrace. God bless us all. Amen.

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Thursday, 21 April 2016 : Fourth Week of Easter, Memorial of St. Anselm, Bishop and Doctor of the Church (Gospel Reading)

Liturgical Colour : White

John 13 : 16-20

At that time, Jesus said to His disciples at the Last Supper, “Truly, I say to you, the servant is not greater than his master, nor is the messenger greater than he who sent him. Understand this, and blessed are you, if you put it into practice.”

“I am not speaking of you all, because I know the ones I have chosen, and the Scripture has to be fulfilled that says : The one who shared My table has risen against Me. I tell you this now before it happens, so that when it does happen, you may know that I am He.”

“Truly, I say to you, whoever welcomes the one I send, welcomes Me; and whoever welcomes Me, welcomes the One Who sent Me.”

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Thursday, 21 April 2016 : Fourth Week of Easter, Memorial of St. Anselm, Bishop and Doctor of the Church (Psalm)

Liturgical Colour : White

Psalm 88 : 2-3, 21-22, 25 and 27

I will sing forever, o Lord, of Your love and proclaim Your faithfulness from age to age. I will declare how steadfast is Your love, how firm Your faithfulness.

I have found David My servant, and with My holy oil I have anointed him. My hand will be ever with him and My arm will sustain him.

My faithfulness and love will be with Him, and by My help he will be strong. He will call on Me, ‘You are my Father, my God, my Rock, my Saviour.’