Liturgical Colour : White
Psalm 56 : 8-9, 10-12
My heart is steadfast, o God, my heart is steadfast. I will sing and make music. Awake, my soul, awake, o harp and lyre! I will wake the dawn.
I will give thanks to You, o Lord, among the peoples; I will sing praise to You among the nations. For Your love reaches to the heavens, and Your faithfulness, to the clouds. Be exalted, o God, above the heavens! Let Your Glory be over all the earth!
Liturgical Colour : White
Brothers and sisters in Christ, to all of us had been revealed the truth, that is there is one God, and that God who is all-powerful and mighty, had come into the world, in the person of Jesus Christ, who walked on this earth, and who performed great miracles from the power of His glory. And in His Name, through the Apostles, whom He had entrusted with power and authority, great healings and miracles happened
He is the one and true God, the only God to exist and the creator of all things and all universe. But not all the peoples knew about Him, and there were indeed those who believed in things other than the truth, such as what the different peoples and different cultures believed. For example, the ancient Greek mythology with their gods and creatures which the Greeks and the Romans believed.
They believed in those gods, which represented each the different elements of nature, such as Zeus or Jupiter with lightning, Apollo and Helios with the sun, Poseidon or Neptune with the sea and the waves, and Hades or Pluto with the realm of the dead. These were powerful and the then little understood aspects and phenomena of nature which the people of the past were awed with.
They worshipped these aspects and phenomena as gods and powerful divine beings because they failed to understand that these were mere creations. The Aztecs and their sun-worship and the other traditions and nations with their various traditions including those mentioned earlier were in awe of these phenomena and often sought to placate ‘the anger of the gods’ by offering them sacrifices and worship, and in some cases, even human sacrifices.
God created all of us, but many did not realise this basic fact, and hence in their ignorance, mankind tried to do different things that stood contrary to the truth that is in God. And that was why He resolved to reveal Himself to mankind, beginning with Abraham, and through His descendants, whom He chose to be His first chosen people.
He revealed His love to them, and gave them His laws and precepts to be followed. Yet, they did not remain completely faithful, and they erred on numerous occasions. As a result, God sent numerous messengers in the prophets to remind these people of their need to obey the Lord and to turn back to His ways.
But yet they continued to refuse to listen to His words, and when He sent His own Son, Jesus Christ to be the One who would finally liberate the entire people of God from the world of darkness, they rejected Him and refused yet again to believe in His teachings and in what He had done. And that was what also happened to the two disciples, Paul and Barnabas, when they went to proclaim the Lord to the Gentiles in the Greek-speaking areas of the Roman Empire.
Because those people had long believed in the supreme power of natural phenomena that they worshipped as the gods, they naturally saw the miracles of Paul and Barnabas as the manifestation of these gods, and that was why they worshipped the two disciples, much to their dismay. That is what is meant by, even though the two disciples taught the people about the Lord, but they failed to understand and failed to open their hearts to accept the Lord into them.
Hence, brethren, this also applies to us who live in this world today. Let us not harden our hearts against the Lord, and let us not close our hearts to Him. Let God enter into our hearts and make ourselves anew. Allow God to speak to us and help us to understand His truth. Do not be indignant as those Gentiles and also the Jews had been. Allow the Lord to do His wonderful works in us. God bless us. Amen.
Liturgical Colour : White
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.
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.”
Liturgical Colour : White
John 10 : 22-30
The time came for the feast of the Dedication. It was winter, and Jesus walked back and forth in the portico of Solomon. The Jews then gathered around Him and said to Him, “How long will you keep us in doubt? If You are the Messiah, tell us plainly.”
Jesus answered, “I have already told you, but you do not believe. The works I do in My Father’s Name proclaim who I am, but you do not believe because, as I said, you are not My sheep.”
“My sheep hear My voice and I know them; they follow Me and I give them eternal life. They shall never perish, and no one will ever steal them from Me. What the Father has given Me is above everything else, and no one can snatch it from out of the Father’s hand. I and the Father are One.”
Alternative Reading (Mass of our Lady of Fatima)
Luke 11 : 27-28
As Jesus was speaking, a woman spoke from the crowd and said to Him, “Blessed is the one who gave You birth and nursed You!”
Jesus replied, “Truly blessed are those who hear the word of God, and keep it as well.”
Liturgical Colour : White
Psalm 86 : 1-3, 4-5, 6-7
He Himself has built in His holy mountain; the Lord prefers the gates of Zion to all of Jacob’s towns. Great things have been foretold of you, o city of God.
Between friends we speak of Egypt and Babylon; and also Philistia, Tyre, Ethiopia : “Here so-and-so was born.” But of Zion it shall be said, “More and more are being born in her.” For the Most High Himself has founded her.
And the Lord notes in the people’s register : “All these were also born in Zion.” And all will dance and sing joyfully for You.
Alternative Reading (Mass of our Lady of Fatima)
Psalm 44 : 11-12, 14-15, 16-17
Listen, o daughter, pay attention; forget your father’s house and your nation, and your beauty will charm the King, for He is your Lord.
All glorious as she enters is the princess in her gold-woven robes. She is led in royal attire to the King, following behind is her train of virgins.
Amid cheers and general rejoicing, they enter the palace of the King. Forget your fathers and think of your sons, you will make them princes throughout the land.
Liturgical Colour : White
Psalm 115 : 12-13, 14-15, 16-17
How can I repay the Lord for all His goodness to me? I will lift up the cup of salvation and call on the Name of the Lord.
I will fulfill my vows to the Lord in the presence of all His people. It is painful to the Lord to see the death of His faithful.
O Lord, I am Your servant, truly Your servant, Your handmaid’s son. You have freed me from my bonds. I will offer You a thanksgiving sacrifice; I will call on the Name of the Lord.
Liturgical Colour : White
Psalm 116 : 1, 2
Alleluia! Praise the Lord, all you nations; all you peoples, praise Him.
How great is His love for us! His faithfulness lasts forever.
Liturgical Colour : White
This world is hostile against us, not the people, but the systems and the nature of the world itself, for evil is in this world, and evil hates us who are light in the darkness. That is what the devil tried to do when the faithful and the Church was still young, that is to snuff out the light that would banish the darkness away forever, and this was done through lies, persuasion and temptations.
Saul, the young man, zealous or in fact overly zealous as one would say, belonged to the group of the Pharisees, who strictly observed the laws of Moses and the other rules and regulations that had been brought up over the years by the people of God. This strict adherence, in addition to the persistent refusal by most of the chief priests and the elders of Israel to receive the truth of God as revealed by Christ the Messiah, caused someone like Saul to be born.
Yes, the archenemy of the faithful as one would have said it. The scourge of the faithful, the persecutor who brought great sufferings and miseries to those who believed in the truth and kept it alive and true. Saul hunted down hundreds, if not thousands of the people of God, just because they believed in the truth and Saul refused to believe in it, not least until the Lord Himself appeared to him and brought him to a new life of service to the truth.
Saul later would be known as Paul, the great servant of the Lord who would bring the Good News to all the peoples of the world, the Gentiles and pagans in particular, and through them, to us eventually. We all know what happened to Saul, his conversion and later works. And we know that he too, suffer from persecutions, rejections and oppositions to his good works, as he had once done to the people of God before his conversion.
Opposition and challenges is a staple of our lives if we choose to remain faithful to God and be the bearers of His Good News. The world, ruled by the evil one, hates the truth, for the truth of Christ is the key for our redemption and liberation, that we will no longer be in the dominion of death and sin, but instead be free forever in the light and love of God.
But do not fear, brothers and sisters in Christ, as the oppositions that pile up against us should not deter us from continuing our works and missions, but instead serve as a further reminder of how good and wonderful our Lord and God is. Why so? Because remember, in the Gospel today, the Lord Himself assured us all, that He will be by our side, and He will not abandon us to the powers of those who seek our destruction.
Yes, Jesus mentioned that all that the Father had given Him, none He will lose, and that includes all of us. Yes, we have been granted by the Father to Christ, through our baptism, when we, in faith, are sealed to be the possessions of the Lord, in His Most Holy Name. We who have been baptised have received the seal of faith, and the Lord dwells in us since the day of our baptism onwards.
But that does not mean then we can be complacent in our faith. While Christ assured us that those whom the Father had given Him, He would not lose, but if we changed our ways back to our old lives filled with sin, then that is tantamount to us rejecting this gift of the Father to His Son, and therefore, we made ourselves lost, and bereft of the holiness and worthiness of heavenly glory promised to us on the day of our baptism.
Hence, brethren, as we continue to proceed in this life and in this holy season of Easter, let us always constantly remind ourselves to keep our faith living and strong, and not to be worried about challenges and oppositions we may face along the way. Remember that God is always on our side, and ready to help us, if we too play our part and keep a good and faithful attitude in our lives.
May the Lord be with us, protect us, and keep us safe in His everlasting grace and infinite love. God bless us all. Amen.
Liturgical Colour : White
Luke 24 : 35-48
Then the two disciples told what had happened on the road to Emmaus, and how Jesus had made Himself known, when He broke bread with them.
While they were still talking about this, Jesus Himself stood in their midst. He said to them, “Peace to you.” In their panic and fright they thought they were seeing a ghost, but He said to them, “Why are you upset, and how does such an idea cross your minds?”
“Look at My hands and feet, and see that it is I Myself! Touch Me, and see for yourselves, for a ghost has no flesh and bones as I have!” As He said this, He showed His hands and feet.
In their joy they did not dare believe, and were still astonished; so He said to them, “Have you anything to eat?” And they gave Him a piece of broiled fish. He took it, and ate it before them. Then Jesus said to them, “Remember the words I spoke to you when I was still with you : ‘Everything written about Me in the Law of Moses, in the Prophets and in the Psalms must be fulfilled.'” Then He opened their minds to understand the Scriptures.
And He said, “So it was written : the Messiah had to suffer, and on the third day rise from the dead. Then repentance and forgiveness in His Name would be proclaimed to all the nations, beginning from Jerusalem. And you are witnesses of these things.”
petercanisiusmichaeldavidkang 