Four Evangelists

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Monday, 21 September 2026 : Feast of St. Matthew, Apostle and Evangelist (Homily and Scripture Reflections)

Liturgical Colour : Red

Dear brothers and sisters in Christ, today the Church celebrates the great Feast of one of the Twelve Apostles of the Lord, and who happens to be also one of the Four Evangelists, that is St. Matthew the Apostle, also once known as Levi, the tax collector. As Levi, St. Matthew was a tax collector likely collecting the taxes on behalf of the Roman overlords of the region, and perhaps also the local rulers like the Herodians. Regardless of the details, the tax collectors living and working at the time of the Lord Jesus were really reviled and hated by almost everyone, and the Pharisees and the teachers of the Law in particular despised them and portrayed them as evil and wicked, unworthy of God’s grace, unclean and sinful in their lives and actions.

Why was that so, brothers and sisters in Christ? That is because of the nature of their work, collecting the taxes on behalf of the state and rulers of the time, and by default, no one liked to be taxed or have part of their income and property to be subjected to tax. Then, historically, we must also understand that the Jewish people by the time of the Lord Jesus and His ministry were rather fiercely protective of their nation identity and freedom, as they were not that long ago put under rather intense persecution by the Greek rulers which eventually led to the well-known Maccabean revolts and uprisings, in which the Jewish people managed to free themselves from the tyranny of the Greek kings and overlords, establishing their own independent state, known as the Hasmonean Kingdom.

But this relative freedom and independence did not last long, as the Romans came into the region and became the new overlords of the realm, subjugating the Jewish people under their control, with some conflicts and divisions, some uneasy arrangements that were generally resented by the Jews. Not only that, as the Romans also arranged that another foreigner, from among the Idumeans, living as neighbours to the Jews, to be the ruler of the land, in the person of Herod the Great and his descendants. That was why the tax collectors were often reviled and hated, because they represented those overlords and rulers whom the people disliked, with the added fact that they had to shoulder the additional burden of paying taxes.

Yet, the Lord Jesus went to reach out to those same tax collectors, speaking with them and spending time among them, and even going so far as to have dinner at one of their houses. Such actions were frowned upon by the leaders of the Jewish people, like the Pharisees and the teachers of the Law, and hence, the Lord was questioned and criticised for having done so. But the Lord made it clear that He came to this world, in order to seek those who have been lost to Him, all those who have fallen into the darkness and into the clutches of sin. He came to gather them all back, His lost sheep, heal them and reconcile them once again to His heavenly Father, our Lord and Creator. He did not forget about them, and wanted everyone to know that they were truly equally beloved by God.

And by calling Levi to be His disciple, and eventually as one of the Twelve Apostles, the Lord showed that everyone has the potential and capacity for greatness in God’s grace and love. The tax collectors had been reviled, hated and looked down upon by many of the people, and yet, they showed greater faith and desire to love God than that of the Pharisees and the teachers of the Law, who stubbornly refused to believe in God despite having witnessed, heard and seen so many of the Lord’s works and wonderful teachings. Those tax collectors came to the Lord, seeking His mercy and forgiveness, wanting to listen to His words and desiring the grace of God, while the Pharisees and the teachers of the Law, although they knew the Law and the Prophets well, refused to listen to the Lord or to believe in His truth.

St. Matthew, whose name change indicated his commitment to a new life and service to God, dedicating himself wholeheartedly to the cause of the Lord, eventually did many great and wonderful works for the sake of the Lord and His people. Not only that he wrote one of the Four Gospels, mainly aimed at the Jewish community at the time, in showing Who the Lord Jesus truly was, but he also ministered to the faithful and proclaimed the Lord and His Good News, to the Jewish people in Judea, and also further afield, in places such as Ethiopia, where according to Apostolic traditions, St. Matthew was martyred for his faith, having convinced the virgin daughter of the king of Ethiopia to be a Christian and to consecrate herself to the Lord. St. Matthew was martyred when the new King of Ethiopia, who lusted after the consecrated virgin and nun daughter of the previous king, was rejected and the latter was also rebuked by St. Matthew for his immoral attitude and behaviour.

Brothers and sisters in Christ, the examples set by St. Matthew the Apostle and many others of our holy predecessors should remind us all that we are all called to a life that is truly dedicated to God, in our every words, actions and deeds. Just as St. Paul had written in his Epistle to the Ephesians, our first reading passage today, that each and every one of us have been given distinct gifts by the Lord, the gifts, blessings and opportunities which may allow us to do His will in various ways and means, in whatever it is that we are called to do in our lives. And St. Matthew has shown us that even those who have been hated and reviled by the community, dismissed and ostracised as sinners and those deemed unworthy, can indeed do wonderful and great deeds, and can be fruitful in their lives and works, and be great saints and role models like St. Matthew himself, among many others.

Today, as we rejoice in memory of the faith, commitment and works of St. Matthew the Apostle, Holy Apostle of the Lord and Evangelist, let us all do our very best so that in our lives, we may always be ever faithful and be ever more committed in each and every one of our actions and works, so that in all that we say and do, we will always strive to do God’s will, and that we will always ever be filled with God’s grace in all things. Let us also not be judgmental or be biased upon others just because we think that we are better than them or that we deem others to be less worthy than us. May the Lord always be with us all, and may He empower us with the strength and grace to do His will at all times. May He bless our every good efforts and endeavours, now and always. Amen.

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Monday, 21 September 2026 : Feast of St. Matthew, Apostle and Evangelist (Gospel Reading)

Liturgical Colour : Red

Matthew 9 : 9-13

At that time, as Jesus moved on from the place where He cured a paralytic man, He saw a man named Matthew, at his seat in the custom house; and He said to him, “Follow Me!” And Matthew got up and followed Him. 

Now it happened, while Jesus was at table in Matthew’s house, many tax collectors and sinners joined Jesus and His disciples. When the Pharisees saw this, they said to His disciples, “Why is it, that your Master eats with sinners and tax collectors?”

When Jesus heard this, He said, “Healthy people do not need a doctor, but sick people do. Go, and find out what this means : What I want is mercy, not sacrifice. I did not come to call the righteous, but sinners.”

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Monday, 21 September 2026 : Feast of St. Matthew, Apostle and Evangelist (Psalm)

Liturgical Colour : Red

Psalm 18 : 2-3, 4-5

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

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

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Monday, 21 September 2026 : Feast of St. Matthew, Apostle and Evangelist (First Reading)

Liturgical Colour : Red

Ephesians 4 : 1-7, 11-13

Therefore, I, the prisoner of Christ, invite you, to live the vocation you have received. Be humble, kind, patient and bear with one another in love. Make every effort to keep among you, the unity of spirit, through bonds of peace. Let there be one body, and one Spirit, just as one hope is the goal of your calling by God. One Lord, one faith, one baptism; one God, the Father of all, Who is above all, and works through all, and is in all.

But to each of us, divine grace is given, according to the measure of Christ’s gift. As for His gifts, to some, He gave to be Apostles; to others, prophets, or even evangelists; or pastors and teachers. So, He prepared those who belong to Him, for the ministry, in order to build up the Body of Christ, until we are all united, in the same faith and knowledge of the Son of God. Thus, we shall become the perfect Man, upon reaching maturity, and sharing the fullness of Christ.

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Saturday, 25 April 2026 : Feast of St. Mark, Evangelist (Homily and Scripture Reflections)

Liturgical Colour : Red

Dear brothers and sisters in Christ, this day all of us celebrate the great Feast of one of the Four Evangelists, namely St. Mark the Evangelist, one of the writers of the Four Holy Gospels. According to Apostolic tradition, St. Mark was one of the disciples of the Lord, counted among the Seventy Disciples that the Lord sent forth to perform His work and ministry among the people, preceding His own coming and works. St. Mark followed the Lord with the other disciples and likely experienced many of the things that the Apostles had experienced themselves, in encountering the Risen Lord and in journeying together with the Apostles in their early missionary works. St. Mark was of course most well-known for his efforts in compiling together the accounts and the details of the Lord’s ministry as told and revealed by the Apostles, and through the inspiration of the Holy Spirit, he wrote his Gospel, directed in particular to the Gentiles.

St. Mark would accompany the Apostles like St. Peter, St. Paul and others in their missionary work, according to the Acts of the Apostles and other Church and Apostolic tradition and histories. He assisted their ministry and evangelising work, and was eventually made a bishop, in becoming one of the successors of the Apostles. He went to Egypt, to the great city of Alexandria, and there he helped to establish a strong and flourishing Christian community, becoming the very first Bishop of Alexandria. He would become the first in the long line of the Bishops and eventually Patriarchs of Alexandria, one of the most senior leader throughout all Christendom. All of those faithful bishops and patriarchs traced their ministry and work back to St. Mark the Evangelist. This faithful servant of God dedicated himself and the rest of his life and work to glorify the Lord and becoming a most faithful and dedicated shepherd to his flock.

Through his efforts and works, the Church in Alexandria grew rapidly and wonderfully, already primed for that due to its large Jewish diaspora community and history of harmony and integration with the non-Jewish people or the Gentiles. From this, the Church’s efforts and works in reaching out to more and more of the people of God proliferated and grew rapidly, as many Christians, missionaries and others spread all throughout the Roman Empire and beyond, planting the seeds of the Christian faith in numerous areas and increasing the already rapidly growing rate of the early Christian Church and communities. Through the dedication showed by St. Mark and also the other disciples and missionaries, the Church continued to grow and to proliferate in its reach and size, and despite the many challenges, trials and persecutions it faced, it kept on growing, encouraged by the courage and the bravery of the Apostles and their successors, including St. Mark himself.

With regards to St. Mark, according to the Apostolic tradition, he was martyred during the reign of the Roman Emperor Nero after many years of ministry and work for the greater glory of God. It was at about that same time, that the first of the very intense persecution by the Roman state and institutions were assembled against the Christian Church and all the faithful, directed by the Emperor Nero who blamed the Christians for many things, especially that of the Great Fire of Rome, which ironically, according to historical evidences, was in fact done by Nero himself. It was a time when many of the leaders of the Church endured great sufferings and martyrdom together with many among the Christian faithful, and this included St. Mark himself. Yet, despite that, the courage and dedication which St. Mark and the other dedicated servants of God had shown continued to inspire many even long after they had gone.

Brothers and sisters in Christ, as we heard in our Scripture passages today, from the Epistle of St. Peter and from the Gospel of St. Mark itself, we heard the calling and the reminder for all of us the Christian faithful of the duty, obligation and calling that we have as Christians, as those who believe in the Lord, such that in all that we say and do, in our every words, actions and deeds, we should always do what is right and just before the Lord, and be humble and obedient to the will of God. We should let the Lord lead and guide us in our path, and allow His Wisdom and the Holy Spirit to guide our steps, and to encourage and strengthen us so that we do not end up falling into the traps and downfall due to our sins and inability to resist the temptations to sin. All of us should our best to strive to be faithful and to obey the Lord’s will, to do His Law and commandments even amidst the trials and challenges that may face us in our journey of life as Christians.

As we ourselves have heard from the Gospel reading passage today, the Lord Himself has said that He will always be by His disciples and all those who are faithful to Him. He has given us all various gifts, talents and opportunities, and we ought to use all of these for the good of the Church and for the people of God. The choice is really up to us whether we want to follow the Lord and to be faithful to Him, or whether we choose to follow our own steps and path, in doing whatever catches our desires and whim. The question is, what is our Christian faith is to us, brothers and sisters in Christ? Is it just about going to Church on Sundays and attend the Mass and that is all? And some of us did not even attend the Holy Mass at all, preferring to make excuses and find ways to skip our obligations as Christians when we were perfectly capable of doing what we have been asked to do.

If that is what had actually happened to us and our lives, then we really should be ashamed, brothers and sisters in Christ. And when I said ashamed, I really mean it, as we should really see again the way how the early Church fathers, the Apostles, and those courageous missionaries and servants of God, like St. Mark the Evangelist had lived their lives most virtuously, striving to do what the Lord their God has asked and commanded them to do. They gave so much for the Lord and for His people, dedicating time and effort, and even suffered and died, and even gave their lives for the sake of the Lord. How about us then? Have we endured suffering and trials for the sake of the Lord? Or do we rather flee and abandon the Lord whenever things are not favourable to us, and come seeking Him only when we have need of Him, or when we want Him to do something for us?

That is what we should spend some time reflecting on this day, as we rejoice together on this Feast day of St. Mark the Evangelist. Let us all follow in his footsteps and in the good examples and inspiration that he and the many other disciples of the Lord, the faithful missionaries, holy men and women of God have given us. May the Risen Lord, our God and our Saviour, Jesus Christ, continue guiding and strengthening us, so that all of us may come ever closer to the Holy Presence of God, and become ever more worthy and righteous in our way of life. May God bless us all, our every good works and efforts, our every ministry and interactions so that we may truly become great and wonderful beacons of His light and truth. St. Mark the Evangelist, Holy Servant of God, devoted to the end, pray for us all sinners. Amen.

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Saturday, 25 April 2026 : Feast of St. Mark, Evangelist (Gospel Reading)

Liturgical Colour : Red

Mark 16 : 15-20

At that time, Jesus told His disciples, “Go out to the whole world and proclaim the Good News to all creation. The one who believes and is baptised will be saved; the one who refuses to believe will be condemned.”

“Signs like these will accompany those who have believed : in My Name they will cast out demons and speak new languages; they will pick up snakes, and if they drink anything poisonous, they will be unharmed; they will lay their hands on the sick, and they will be healed.”

So then, after speaking to them, the Lord Jesus was taken up into heaven and took His place at the right hand of God. The Eleven went forth and preached everywhere, while the Lord worked with them and confirmed the message by the signs that accompanied it.

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Saturday, 25 April 2026 : Feast of St. Mark, Evangelist (Psalm)

Liturgical Colour : Red

Psalm 88 : 2-3, 6-7, 16-17

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.

The heavens proclaim Your wonders, o Lord; the assembly of the holy ones recalls Your faithfulness. Who in the skies can compare with the Lord; who of the heaven-born is like Him?

Blessed is the people who know Your praise. They walk in the light of Your face. They celebrate all day Your Name and Your protection lifts them up.

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Saturday, 25 April 2026 : Feast of St. Mark, Evangelist (First Reading)

Liturgical Colour : Red

1 Peter 5 : 5b-14

All of you must clothe yourself with humility in your dealings with one another, because God opposes the proud but gives His grace to the humble. Bow down, then, before the power of God so that He will raise you up at the appointed time. Place all your worries on Him since He takes care of you.

Be sober and alert because your enemy the devil prowls about like a roaring lion seeking someone to devour. Stand your ground, firm in your faith, knowing that our brothers and sisters, scattered throughout the world, are confronting similar sufferings. God, the Giver of all grace, has called you to share in Christ’s eternal Glory and after you have suffered a little He will bring you to perfection : He will confirm, strengthen and establish You forever. Glory be to Him forever and ever. Amen.

I have had these few lines of encouragement written to you by Silvanus, our brother, whom I know to be trustworthy. For I wanted to remind you of the kindness of God really present in all this. Hold on to it. Greetings from the community in Babylon, gathered by God, and from my son, Mark. Greet one another with a friendly embrace. Peace to you all who are in Christ.

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Saturday, 18 October 2025 : Feast of St. Luke, Evangelist (Homily and Scripture Reflections)

Liturgical Colour : Red

Dear brothers and sisters in Christ, today the Church celebrates the Feast of St. Luke the Evangelist, one of the Four Evangelists who wrote the four Canonical Gospels together with St. Matthew, St. Mark and St. John. These four Canonical Gospels had been examined thoroughly by the early Church fathers and by the Church authorities in tandem with the traditions of the Church handed from the Apostles themselves, and they were found to be free from major errors and mistakes that characterised the other Gospels that might also have not been really authentic accounts of the Lord’s life and ministry. Through the authority of the Church and by the courageous works of St. Luke the Evangelist, who was rather detailed in his depiction of the life and works of Jesus, all of us Christians come to know our Lord in much greater detail.

In our first reading today, we heard from the Epistle of St. Paul the Apostle to St. Timothy, one of his protege and one of the successors of the Apostles, regarding what had happened during his years of ministry and times of difficulties and challenges, as he was abandoned by some of his fellow co-workers of the Lord, and how some of them ended up in discord with each other. And in that particular passage, we heard how St. Luke the Evangelist himself was one of the companions of St. Paul during his many missionary journeys and works around the Mediterranean region, and that he was the only one who stayed by with St. Paul in this particular occasions despite the others having left and abandoned him during those time in ministry and journey.

St. Luke was indeed closely involved in the works of the Apostles in the early Church, having spent significant amount of time with the Apostles, particularly with that of St. Paul. That is why he is widely credited and acknowledged as the author of the important Acts of the Apostles, one of the major parts of the New Testament, becoming an important source of the works of the Apostles particularly that of St. Paul and his many major missionary journeys to the different parts of the Mediterranean and the known world at the time. The similarities between the styles of the writing and the fact that St. Luke himself followed St. Paul on his many ministries made it quite a clear conclusion of his authorship of both the Gospel of St. Luke and the Acts of the Apostles.

Then, from our Gospel passage today, we heard from the Gospel according to St. Luke the Evangelist, in which the Lord Jesus sent out His disciples to go before Him on missions to the various places that He Himself was to visit as well, both to prepare His works and to extend His ministry and reach to more people that He could not directly meet and reach in person immediately. He instructed them all on what they ought to do, saying first that while the harvest is plentiful, but the labourers for the Lord’s harvest is few, highlighting how there are indeed a lot of opportunities for the Word of God and the Good News of His salvation to be spread to many more people, but the lack of faithful and courageous missionaries was preventing this from achieving its full potential.

The work of the Lord’s missionaries as He told them all frankly was to be rather challenging and difficult, much as what St. Paul, St. Luke and the other missionaries and disciples of the Lord would encounter later on during their journeys of mission and evangelisation far beyond the scope and boundary of what the Lord sent His original seventy-two disciples in the Gospel. But He encouraged them, telling them all that He would always be with them and that they would never be alone because God Himself would guide them all through His Holy Spirit, and also the reality that they would not always encounter success but also failures and rejections. There would be those who refused to believe in the Lord and in the message which the missionaries had brought, despite their efforts and works.

But the Lord told them all to remain strong and courageous, and to trust in Him wholly in their efforts and missions, and not to put their trust in their own strength and might. That was why the Lord told His disciples and those whom He sent out that they should not be bringing with them beyond what was absolutely necessary, with them having to depend on those to whom they had been sent with. This was meant to prevent those disciples from thinking that they had their successes due to their own might and power, instead of by the grace and guidance from God. And when they gave in to their temptations of pride and glory, and think that they gained their successes through their own power, that would be when the essence of the mission would be lost, and people end up seeking their own personal ambitions rather than truly serving God’s cause.

St. Paul and St. Luke among the many other missionaries took these instructions of the Lord to heart, and throughout their missions, they carried them out humbly and faithfully before God, doing whatever they could to proclaim the truth of God, His Good News and salvation, showing His love and grace to many people to whom they had gone to, establishing the Church and its many good works in various places, while enduring many difficulties, trials and challenges, opposition from the many people who refused to accept the Lord’s truth and Good News, which they carried and endured gracefully with God’s Providence and strength. They kept on going forward nonetheless, as with the many failures and hardships they encountered, there were also many successes and great things that they had accomplished for the sake of the Lord and the salvation of souls.

Now, let us spend some time reflecting on the life of St. Luke the Evangelist himself. St. Luke was a physician and a disciple and follower of St. Paul the Apostle as mentioned earlier, and St. Luke was likely born of a Greek family in the then Hellenistic city of Antioch in Syria, where he encountered early Christians and became a convert to the Faith. Some tradition held that he was a local Syrian or a Hellenised Jew living in Antioch, but regardless of his origins and background, St. Luke was notable for his educated background and capabilities, and often followed St. Paul in his travels, as well as keeping track of the works and actions of the other Apostles, which allowed him therefore to write the accounts on the works and actions of the Apostles and their companions as recorded in the Acts of the Apostles.

St. Luke was also a close collaborator of the faith, and was sometimes even included among the Apostles as he was considered by some Church fathers to have been part and member of the seventy or seventy-two disciples or Apostles highlighted in the Gospel passage today, those whom the Lord had chosen in the Gospels to be the ones that He sent out before Him to carry out His missions and works. He followed some of the other disciples and Apostles in their ministry, particularly that of St. Paul, whom he accompanied even in Rome, as St. Paul himself said that he was only accompanied by St. Luke in his time there. St. Luke therefore had in depth knowledge, understanding and appreciation of the works of the Lord’s disciples and the Church, as well as the events that happened back then, and his prodigious writing skills and talents contributed greatly to the Church.

According to the Church traditions and well-attested history, St. Luke continued to minister to the faithful in various ways, and went all around various places in supporting the works of the Church, as a missionary as well as a physician, caring for the spiritual and physical needs of God’s people. Eventually, he would live on to an old age of approximately eighty-four years old and passed away in Boeotia in what is parts of Central Greece today. Despite his passing, his enormous contributions in various areas, especially his detailed recollection and record of the Lord’s ministry in his Gospel, and also those of the Apostles in the Acts of the Apostles and other works influenced many others immensely, right up to our own time.

Brothers and sisters in Christ, let us all therefore be inspired by the faith and good examples set by St. Luke the Evangelist and the other courageous missionaries of the Lord. Let us all be ever active in living our lives faithfully according to the words and teachings of the Lord contained in the Holy Gospels, and in the other parts of the Scriptures, in the teachings of the Church magisterium and the sacred traditions from the days of the Apostles themselves. Let us all continue to inspire one another as Christians so that our lives and works, our efforts and examples may touch and inspire the lives of so many others around us. May God be with us always, and may He continue to empower each and every one of us in how we live our lives, now and forevermore. Amen.

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Saturday, 18 October 2025 : Feast of St. Luke, Evangelist (Gospel Reading)

Liturgical Colour : Red

Luke 10 : 1-9

At that time, the Lord appointed seventy-two other disciples, and sent them, two by two, ahead of Him, to every town and place, where He Himself was to go. And He said to them, “The harvest is plentiful, but the workers are few. So you must ask the Lord of the harvest to send workers to His harvest. Courage! I am sending you like lambs among wolves. Set off without purse or bag or sandals; and do not stop at the homes of those you know.”

“Whatever house you enter, first bless them, saying, ‘Peace to this house!’ If a friend of peace lives there, the peace shall rest upon that person. But if not, the blessing will return to you. Stay in that house, eating and drinking at their table, for the worker deserves to be paid. Do not move from house to house.”

“When they welcome you to any town, eat what they offer you. Heal the sick who are there, and say to them : ‘The kingdom of God has drawn near to you.'”