Four Evangelists

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Wednesday, 18 October 2023 : Feast of St. Luke, Evangelist (First Reading)

Liturgical Colour : Red

2 Timothy 4 : 10-17b

You must know, that Demas has deserted me, for the love of this world : he returned to Thessalonica. Crescens has gone to Galatia and Titus to Dalmatia. Only Luke remains with me. Get Mark and bring him with you, for he is a useful helper in my work. I sent Tychicus to Ephesus.

Bring with you the cloak I left at Troas, in Carpos’ house, and also the scrolls, especially the parchments. Alexander, the metalworker, has caused me great harm. The Lord will repay him for what he has done. Distrust him, for he has been very much opposed to our preaching.

At my first hearing in court, no one supported me; all deserted me. May the Lord not hold it against them. But the Lord was at my side, giving me strength, to proclaim the word fully, and to let all the pagans hear it.

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Thursday, 21 September 2023 : 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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Thursday, 21 September 2023 : 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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Thursday, 21 September 2023 : 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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Thursday, 21 September 2023 : 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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Tuesday, 25 April 2023 : 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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Tuesday, 25 April 2023 : 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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Tuesday, 25 April 2023 : 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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Tuesday, 25 April 2023 : 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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Tuesday, 27 December 2022 : Feast of St. John, Apostle and Evangelist (Homily and Scripture Reflections)

Liturgical Colour : White

Dear brothers and sisters in Christ, today as we gather together as a Church, we honour the memory of one of the great servants of God, His beloved Apostle, one of the Twelve, namely that of St. John the Apostle and Evangelist, the one who lived the longest among the Apostles and according to tradition was both the youngest among them during the Lord’s ministry as well as the only one who did not die in martyrdom, but still suffered greatly nonetheless for his faith and good works in God. St. John the Apostle and Evangelist lived to a long old life, even as he endured arrest, prison and exile in the island of Patmos, where he received the vision from God regarding the end times, as written in the Book of Revelations of St. John.

This Apostle was the younger brother of St. James the Greater, another one of the Twelve Apostles. Both of them were often referred to as the sons of Zebedee, and were fishermen at the lake of Galilee together with St. Peter and St. Andrew. All the four of them were among the first that the Lord had called to become His disciples, and St. John together with his brother, St. James and also St. Peter were often present in many of the important events throughout the ministry of the Lord Jesus such as the Transfiguration, the resurrection of the sick daughter of the synagogue official Jairus, as well as the moments of the Passion of the Lord like the Agony in the Garden of Gethsemane. All the three of them including St. John were present at those important events, and hence he truly must have had a great knowledge of what had happened during the Lord’s work and ministry.

In the Gospel passage we heard today, we heard of the story from the Gospel written by St. John himself of the moment when the Lord was risen from the dead. At that occasion, it was told that when St. Mary Magdalene came bearing the information that the Lord has risen and disappeared from the tomb, St. John was among the first of the Apostles, together with St. Peter, who went to check the truth of what they have just heard. St. John believed in what he had seen and heard, and had faith in God, which had kept him going throughout all those years afterwards when he had to endure a lot of trials and hardships as a missionary and a worker of the Lord, carrying out His will in faraway places and lands, and facing both successes and challenges throughout all those occasions and years.

In our first reading today, the Epistle that St. John himself had written, to all the faithful people of God, we heard St. John yet again testifying about the Lord, highlighting how the Love of God has manifested in the Lord Jesus Christ, the One Whose every works and good deeds, wonders and miracles, wisdom and teachings he had witnessed and heard. St. John hence shared of what he had experienced and believed in, and placed particular emphasis on the Incarnation of the Word, the Divine Word of God, the Son, in the flesh, to come down into our midst as the Saviour of all. Like that of another of very popular quote from his Gospel, St. John wrote of the exchanges between the Lord Jesus and the Pharisee, Nicodemus in which Jesus said that, ‘For God so loved the world that He gave us all His only beloved Son, so that all those who believed in Him may not perish but have eternal life.’

Brothers and sisters in Christ, as we heard from these Scripture passages today, as written and recorded by St. John himself, we are reminded that each and every one of us are also witnesses and bearers of this same truth which St. John had himself received from the Lord, and just like St. John who had to labour and faced a lot of trials over the many years that he had spent in his ministry and calling as an Apostle and also an Evangelist, all of us as God’s holy people, the members of His same Church and part of that same one flock should therefore also carry out the respective missions, vocations and callings that each one of us have received as disciples and followers of the Lord. We cannot be ignorant of the responsibilities that each one of us as Christians have in being good bearers of the truth of God and as the beacons of His light and hope.

Yes, brothers and sisters in Christ, today as we rejoice together and celebrate the memory of St. John the Apostle and Evangelist, remembering all the great deeds he had done for the sake of the Lord and His people, all of us are reminded that the works that the Lord had begun and entrusted to His Church through His Apostles like St. John are far from being completed. On the contrary, there are always many more opportunities and occasions where there may be a lot of chance for us to be the bearers of God’s truth and love in our communities today, or within our own families and circles of friends, with acquaintances and even strangers we encounter daily in life. And this Christmas season is one of those occasions in which we can reach out to our fellow brethren with pure and genuine Christian love.

That is why it is important that each one of us understand the true meaning and importance of Christmas, knowing that Christmas is truly the manifestation of God’s Love, just as St. John had stated in various occasions, of the Divine Word and Son of God incarnate, taking up upon Himself our humble human nature and existence, so that by this action, He might accomplish everything that had been planned and prophesied for us, our salvation and liberation from the bondage of sin, evil and death. The question is whether we understand and appreciate this truth, and even more importantly, whether we show it in our way of celebrating Christmas, by putting Christ at the centre of all of our rejoicing, celebrations and festivities, or whether we have allowed the excesses of the secular form of Christmas, all the worldly merrymaking and parties to distract us from the true meaning of Christmas.

That is why we should reflect well on this, and if we have not done so, we should change our emphasis and focus in the way we celebrate Christmas. Christmas should no longer be about ourselves or be about our pleasures and happiness, while forgetting about others and those who are suffering around us. Instead of a selfish celebration and excessive merrymaking and feasting, we should be ever more committed as the followers and disciples of the Lord, in showing one another what true Christian love is all about, sharing the same love that Christ our Lord had come bearing with Him into this world, by reaching out to the less fortunate and all those who are not able to celebrate Christmas the way we do. Let us also seek reconciliation and forgiveness from one another for all the past faults we have made as well.

May the Lord through the examples and life of His faithful servant and Apostle, St. John, continue to strengthen and inspire us to be ever more dedicated and faithful in all things. May He help us to appreciate and understand better what He had Himself done for us so that we too may become good witnesses and bearers of His love, His truth and His ways. May God bless our every efforts and endeavours, our every actions and good works at all times, now and forevermore. Amen.